Stain
by Green Bird
Summary: Yaoi. Demons mark their mates with a bite, binding them and barring others. Kurama is unwillingly taken by another kitsune and stained with his mark. Certain fire demons don’t like to be robbed. OCKurama, HieiKurama, Violence, NCS. Complete.
1. Capturing the Fox

Title: Stain   
Show: Yu Yu Hakusho   
Pairing: OC/Kurama, (Hiei+Kurama later)   
Author: _Green Bird_   
Disclaimer: I don't own this. You know I don't own this.   
Rating: R+ (pushing it, but I still believe that it's R or 16+ material)   
Note: Kurama goes looking for his muse in the Makai, but falls prey to another Kitsune (OC) that recognizes him as Youko. After a rather horrific encounter Hiei finds him beaten and soiled, not to mention the fact that there is a mark on him… a mark that will be hard to erase. Two Parter. Yaoi, Violence, NCS, Bondage, (In this chapter.) Small Shounen-ai in second chapter. Not a PWP… I have plot, I swear I do. The timeline however… I have no idea.   
  
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**Stain**   
  
Part One: Capturing the Fox

  
  
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The Makai; a world of horrors and beauties, almost like a human funhouse. Handsome flowers of insurmountable size that would devour a curious passerby, finely plumed birds that sang sweet death, multihued fog that swallowed the soul… Yes, this was the land of the demons.   
  
Land that Kurama had known well… The rubber souls of his shoes pressed soft soil down as he moved through the very pith of an old-growth forest. A forest that whispered quietly to itself of the brazen-haired youth that moved through it. The kitsune heard the conversation among the aged plants and smiled.   
  
_-Who is this human boy? ... How brave of him to walk amongst us.-   
  
-Why, his blood is tainted that of a fox!-   
  
-Look! He is kindred, he carries our strength in him!-   
  
-A kitsune!-_   
  
Kurama bowed slightly at the soft whispering voices. How awkward; a forest that was friendly. _Perhaps I should ask where I am…_   
  
The Youko had been walking for two strong hours in a single direction. It was not like himself to become lost, but then again, he had not had such a long time recently to wander the spaces of the Makai. Truthfully, he shouldn't have even been here, he was not roaming by request or on a mission, well, not one of Koenma's missions.   
  
A root was graciously moved out of his way and he stepped kindly over it. The mission he had sent himself on had one objective; to find his fire demon, Hiei. The darkly clad sprite had not surfaced, privately or officially, for three weeks and five days. Kurama hadn't been worried, but simply curious at the disappearance. Many times he had tried to call out to the demon, but the response was inconclusive. This meant that his prey was most likely residing in the Makai.   
  
After a rather difficult time of locating a portal the kitsune had slipped into the demon world and began his search by aforementioned knowledge of Hiei's location. His long tresses were heavily laden with an artillery of plant weapons… every seed he could scrounge up and a large vermillion rose. If any demons dared to attack him, he would be well prepared, and not sensing any power in the vicinity that might pose an actual threat; Kurama felt as safe as he could.   
  
_I hope Hiei will not be angry with me for searching him out… _Thin wispy clouds drifted somewhere overhead, but he could no longer look upon them. The old trees' crooked hands extended over the path he ran along, the large dark leaves sprouting from their fingers catching all of the sun's possible light that could seep through. He had started this search not merely because he was curious as to where his friend had gone, but Kurama simply longed to look upon him again. Hiei might not exactly be warm company, but he was always a careful ear to confide to… and a handsome face to look at… and a pleasure to watch…   
  
_I suppose none of you have seen him._ Kurama thought, amused. To his slight delight a few of the spirits buzzed eagerly back.   
  
_-I have felt a strong demon in our company.-   
  
-Yes, he might be who you're looking for!-_   
  
"Where shall I find him?" The kitsune asked, finally coming to a stop in his walking. To his direct left several branches lifted upward, revealing a sloped path deeper into the forests' bowels. Furrowing his brows he looked deep into the maw; verdant eyes suspicious. Sensing his calculation of the path, the branches moved to bid him forward, twigs beckoning.   
  
His skeptics turned to light relief. He had never expected to stumble across such a helpful and welcoming place. Odd to find in the Makai…   
  
Watching his feet, the fox descended down the pathway; noticing how the voices gently pushed him on, telling him that the strong demon lived in a cavern at the bottom of the basin he was sinking into. Just a little father… just a little farther…   
  
The air was thicker in the basin then on the path and void of wind. One could not look deeply into the trees until the dark mists that hung lifelessly obstructed their view. Despite the supposed gloom of the deadened air, the foliage was beautiful, and Vines gracefully dressed the trees' crooked bodies. Buds of Night Flowers lay sleeping in their nests of soft leaves; oh how he would love to see those entrancing black blooms in the night's quiet.   
  
But, his observations began to irk him. It took only a few minutes of carefully placed steps for the Youko to figure out that there was something quite wrong. If Hiei was where the trees told him; why couldn't he feel the small Jaganshi? Why were the spirits so eager for him to travel this path? Who lived here if Hiei was indeed not, and if he was: why would he for that matter live in such a noisy place? This forest would drive the youkai mad! This place was a depression in the earth… Hiei liked elevation.   
  
Kurama halted, inhaling the air and shifting his ears. His skin prickled in warning. His youkai was not anywhere near… No. No, he shouldn't be here. He was in danger. Quickly he drew out his rose, and, keeping his face unreadable, let his eyes search for whatever did live on the land on which he stood.   
  
The trees had been right about one thing; a strong demon did live in the basin. Its presence was powerful; why hadn't he noticed it before? It was an animal spirit… one who planted the alluring Night Flowers, one who seduced the trees to growing their unnatural height, one who spoke to them, one who controlled them.   
  
Oh no.   
  
He had walked right into a trap.   
  
As slowly as he could manage, Kurama attempted to call up the Youko. By the scent of his hunter; his human form stood no chance. A foot fell back to steady himself and he crooked his head downward, feeling the pull of his ki …feeling it… feeling it being pulled away!   
  
With a gasp Kurama fell backward, hands flying to his ankle instinctively before his body registered what had happened. Strong thin fingers wrenched at whatever had buried itself in the tender flesh in the hollow above his heel. Trying to stop the blood that seeped from the hole afterward, the kitsune glared at the object.   
  
It was a thorn. He had stepped into the large barb-covered spike, electric blue in color… what was it? Was it dangerous?   
  
_-It is of my own breed. -_ A voice purred from somewhere far in front of him. _–A spirit sedate. Good for rendering dangerous trespassers helpless.-_   
  
"I mean you no harm!" Kurama called to it, hoping that it could hear, praying that it would listen. Whatever this poison was that had been injected within him; it was doing exactly what the voice had said it would. He couldn't feel his power, as if the plant that had given the bite had drank every drop from him! He felt weak, helpless. He felt human.   
  
_-Then why did you attempt to transform?-_ The tone of the speaker seemed amused. Immediately Kurama tried to put a form to it. His attacker was male, most definably… and humanoid; the voice was lacking the snarling and snapping that was typical of a beast. This was an animal spirit, and strong. It controlled plants. Could it be…   
  
"You are hiding." The Youko stated, gaze darting to every possible place of secrecy. "Do you fear me?"   
  
"Do not be stupid." It had actually spoken this time and he followed the voice to a space nearly directly ahead. "There is nothing to fear now that you are ensnared. Tell me the truth; not only can you not transform, you can no longer move freely!"   
  
The corner of Kurama's mouth twitched in irritation. He had hoped that the temporary paralysis was well, temporary, but the way his captor spoke of it; it was just another useful function of his plant's barb.   
  
"Wonderful." The figure sounded extremely pleased. "Though, I wish that I could have seen your stunning demon body again Youko, I shall be satisfied with this lesser form. I cannot have you attempting to slay me once more."   
  
A tree's shadow held the figure he had searched for. He was the size of a full man with a head's height over him, complete with squared shoulders and an unbelievably slender waist. Lanky legs bowed as their owner leant against the rough bark of its pet tree, their feet bare against the earth. Folds of silvery green cloth covered a flatly sculpted chest and flowed down to cover the figure smoothly.   
  
Kurama's breath hitched as he realized just what this demon was. How could he possibly mistake those two tuscan ears that poked from the flowing and crimped mass of auburn hair? …Hair that wove its way down a sloped back to halt a breath before a fluffed and leisurely wagging tail that ended itself in a slash of silver-white. A kitsune. A fox- demon.   
  
"Who are you?" He hadn't meant to say it.. but it had been so many years since he rested eyes on his own. There were so few of his kin left.   
  
"You do not remember." It was not a question. The brown fox stepped out from his shady seclusion, moving only closer to the crumpled Kurama on his forest's floor. "My dear Youko, I am that they call Tsurenai."   
  
From the pit of his stomach he felt a chill spread upward. He had known that name. That name had known him. Tsurenai… Not a soul he would ever wish to see again. For the first time, actual fear surfaced. If Youko Kurama was the strongest and most cunning of the kitsune, then Tsurenai Fuyukasi was the cruelest and most lecherous. While Kurama had been a thief, his now captor had been a murderer; known for collecting the rarest creatures as trophies, but not before he used them to their 'full potential'… The torturer, the cutthroat, the harlot; Tsurenai.   
  
"Do you remember me now?" A beautiful face smiled at him, mouth thin and lips taut. The thick curls of his hair fell into his face as he approached, nearly floating as he walked. How could such monsters be so silken?   
  
Kurama tried not to waver as the steps fell directly next to him. As unnerved as he could manage, he stared up at the figure that gazed back down, interest shining in its eyes. A knee was crooked as the kitsune lowered himself down eye-level with the Youko. A hand, skin slightly darker in hue then Kurama's own, reached up to brush fingers against his cheek. Repulsed, he pulled away to the best of his ability, keeping his face just as iron and steady as it always had been. As if nothing at all had happened to dispirit him, Tsurenai reached out again, and this time Kurama hissed and threw his head farther backward to stamp the point. If he was going to be caressed; he would give a hell of a fight against it.   
  
The auburn one whickered. "You pull away from my touch as you did so far back." Kurama's heart ran faster as a tongue drew itself across blazing white teeth. "You took so many to your lair Youko… but never I."   
  
Sharp ivy eyes thinned at the lewd creature whose hand was still persisting to stroke him. "Even I had taste when it came to my lovers."   
  
Tsurenai pierced his lips at the insult and quite suddenly Kurama found his hair tangled in the kitsune's hand. He didn't allow the pleasure of a cry of pain as he felt the roots tear from his scalp. Not that he could have managed it anyway; a fierce mouth pressed to his own, hot and wet. Kurama clamped his jaw tightly, forbidding further violation.   
  
The youth's mind raced at the situation. An embittered rival had him in utter submission in its own territory. This was not having a bright outlook, all he could do was be as adamant and as forbidding as possible and hope for some enlightenment to spring upon him and offer salvation. Kurama felt rage boil up inside at the helplessness he was slave to at the assault on his mouth.   
  
But the invading kitsune had not planned to persist in such a manner. Flicking his wrist he threw Kurama's immobile body down to the forest's now crawling floor.   
  
"I have heard you've grown soft my love. I wish to see this softness." Icy silver eyes glittered in dark excitement. Tsurenai lifted his hand and snapped two fingers together. "Will you cry for me?"   
  
Thousands of small tendrils had leapt up from the ground surrounding him, snaking around his limbs and worming under the folds of his clothing. Kurama shouted in surprise at the unexpected attack, desperately willing his arms to respond to throw the snake-like vines off. The result was a slight and sluggish movement that proved futile as the tendrils wrapped him tightly.   
  
The ensnared redhead glared at the small ropes binding him. This was not at all good… the vines had spurs. One command from their controller and he would be cut to ribbons. Kurama knew… he had done it so many times before.   
  
"I wonder if your blood is that of a human's…" Tsurenai mused, watching his captive writhe as spurs cut into the tender flesh of his wrists. Kurama refused emit a sound, he would not allow it! This pain was temporary. It was unimportant; he needed to find a way to escape.   
  
With a wrenching motion the copper-haired one was pulled abruptly to his feet by his ropes. The demon was indeed a head taller then he in his human form, but Kurama still stared icily at the figure. The kitsune seemed not to pay attention to the piercing look he was receiving, and instead guided his hand to the captured one's.   
  
Chilled fingers cruelly gripped the hand and brought it up to his face. Kurama's wrist has limp from the lacerations upon the inside and Tsurenai took it upon himself to lap at the crimson that seeped from under his plant's grip.   
  
The youth hissed at the audacity of the action and the matter that the plants that wormed over him would not allow free movement to correct it. A slow and leisurely smile crossed the offending kitsune's face.   
  
"I taste your old flesh in this blood. How wonderful." This time the hand that intended to stroke him made its contact with a porcelain cheek and Kurama remained stone-like in his glare. "Ah!" The brown one exclaimed, obviously in delight. "I can even see you in those ningen eyes!"   
  
"Why don't you let me out of this shell then?" Kurama purred, his voice burning as if acid. "If you do so desperately want me, why not see me in full form again?"   
  
The offending hand had found its way into his hair and buried its fingers into his scalp. "I shall be killed." Tsurenai whispered, the smile never fading. "And that, my love, is not part of my plans."   
  
His plans…   
  
Those moist lips found his again and milked them fiercely. Kurama found pressure upon his bottom jaw and that his mouth was being forced to open. A bold tongue dared to dart into his mouth, but pulled back quickly as pearly teeth snapped like a bear trap. Once again the roots of crimson tresses suffered the abuse of the angered kitsune, and in a sudden gasp of pain the frontier was open again for Tsurenai's exploration.   
  
Under the layers of his now torn clothing and beneath the worming vines that played on his skin, Kurama's heart was booming in fear. His senses were on fire… the scent of demon lust flooded his head and tenderized his body. He became very aware that the vines that violated him had more of a use then simply restraining; they sought out areas of sensitivity and then exploited these areas through rubbing and constricting.   
  
A youthful body shuttered under all of the unwanted stimulus and a strong stomach retched at the creature upon his lips. The trespasser retreated at the sound, pulling back with a look of slight surprise and rage at the unexpected reaction.   
  
"Have your tastes changed then Youko?" He asked, sharp eyes roving over his face. "Has the human world tainted your demon nature?"   
  
Kurama hissed at his captor; frightened as his body began to react unasked to the tendril's meticulous movement. Tsurenai's smile grew again as he saw the blush rise to the boy's cheeks.   
  
"Obviously not." The voice was a purr again, and the redhead braced himself for another molestation upon his lips, but it did not come. Rather, Tsurenai abandoned him completely; taking full steps back until he was against his tree once more, lean shoulder holding him sturdy there.   
  
For a moment nothing happened and Kurama reeled in his surprise. What was the demon doing now? He soon figured out.   
  
The tiny, sharp spurs of the vines began to saw away the cloth of his clothing, slicing at the seams and pushing outward. The redhead squirmed in an attempt to dissuade the action, but only proceeded to undress himself further.   
  
In a moment nothing more then ribbons of cloth remained. He could hear Tsurenai's laughter as Kurama burned in shame at what the torn away clothing and expert movement of the plants had revealed. At a gesture from the demon the vines violated him further; twisting and wrapping around him.   
  
Fighting the urge to stare at the ground, Kurama brought his eyes to the brown kitsune's face. A hungry smile was upon his face, whetted fangs showing in its sneer. Tsurenai, unlike his prey, made no effort to conceal his excitement at the display. The redhead blanched, desperately trying to ignore the movement beneath his waist that threatened to take him.   
  
"You would dominate yourself over me Tsurenai?" Kurama growled. "Do you think the Youko will submit so easily?"   
  
Thin brows rose. "You are not the Youko… and I will dominate you, you ningen mix-blood." Those cursed fingers snapped again. "You'll be begging for a gentle taking."   
  
There was a sharp hiss followed by a pained scream from Kurama. Obviously vines were used for everything. Three tendrils had been wound tight together and buried themselves deep within him. The Youko choked and fell to his hands and knees, trying hard to withstand the perverse happening.   
  
Tsurenai sneered at the strangled sounds that his prey emitted as the plants twisted and plunged cruelly within the young body. He nearly couldn't contain himself as the figure writhed in pain, an arm suddenly flying back to pull the vines away was bound to the other by the wrist to prevent such measures.   
  
A face wracked in agony pushed against the dirt as it fought against the pain of the action. Raped by plants… vines wriggling around his member sought to arouse him as the others that stretched their way inside him, fought him into the submission that their master willed.   
  
"Ask for me to replace those violent plants and I will not be so fierce." The auburn kitsune walked nonchalantly to the squirming human's side, fingers stroking the bare and scratched skin of his back. Kurama growled, face still in the dirt, blood rising in desperation. "If you do not, don't worry; it will not be so bad. Your internal blood will ease their movements. Those spurs cannot always be tucked away properly."   
  
In between the white flashes of pain Kurama considered everything. As long as he was under the sedate he could not fight off this demon. There were two choices; accept the offer of submission to a lecher, or wait until you were disemboweled with hooks. No matter the condition: there was pain. That was little matter. It was his pride that needed to be protected, and so far it had been thrown to the dirt the same way that his face was pressed to it now.   
  
But what about the matter of death? It seemed as though it grew more bold a consequence with every twitch of pain, with every new laceration. Tsurenai was going to kill him… he needed a way of escape! But…   
  
Of course! But that meant…   
  
Swallowing deeply, Kurama spoke as plainly as he could. "I… submit."   
  
In an instant the vines pulled themselves free, fleeing back to the brush along with most of the others. The only ones left bound his hands and wrapped about his thighs, waist, and neck. Quickly the redhead pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. His stomach rebelled and Kurama vomited onto the leaves of his mat.   
  
Tsurenai chuckled and stroked him as he did. The retching was lush and moist and disgusting. The kitsune laughed at it.   
  
"Have you no endurance Youko? A simple thing like that overpowers you?" The brown fox drew a thin claw across a score in the pallid skin.   
  
Kurama gagged, finishing his spell. His forearms shook from the shock, and he had to lock his elbows to prevent from falling in his own mess. When breathing soothed itself again, he spoke.   
  
"You would make any iron stomach quaver- Ah!"   
  
The redhead squeaked as his hair was pinched once again and this time used for a handle to throw him backward.   
  
"Learn your place ningen." The seemingly beautiful face of the demon contorted into something monstrous as he mounted the bound youth. "By now you should know that it's on your back…"   
  
  


**. . .**

  
  
  
  
  
"Pretty Youko, just stay still now... my fun's not finished."   
  
He hardly noticed that he had been turned onto his stomach, that now those cruel clawed hands were kneading away at other regions of him, having already entertained themselves with the front portion.   
  
Tsurenai was a slow moving beast, despite his hasty acts when Kurama had first been snared. He drew everything he could out of his play, like a cat with a mouse… he enjoyed the torture. It had irritated him how the Youko had stared at him as he played, so he turned him over… Might as well, he was going to get to this eventually. He just wished he could have played longer; despite how he fought the sounds, the redhead made beautiful whimpers.   
  
Kurama closed his eyes as a hot mouth found its way to somewhere unmentionable, the action making him twitch as a deft tongue lapped unabashed. The victim hissed and jerked himself forward, out of the curious lips' reach. Tsurenai gave a gasp of laughter and a set of teeth sunk into the back of the Youko's thigh. Thin hips were pulled up, aided by those damn vines, and the brown fox shuttered in glee.   
  
A gentle taking would be hard to do, Tsurenai's lust was strong and rigid… he could not hold himself back from what he so wanted any longer. Kurama bit his lip as he felt the heat to his backside as his attacker positioned himself for his prize.   
  
"Scream if you need it. I'll not hold it against you."   
  
He could have, he should have. Tsurenai drove himself within the youth like a sword into naked flesh, stabbing deep and to the hilt. Kurama felt as if a wedge had split him in two. There was a gasp of wonder from the kitsune's mouth and the redhead felt the figure bowed over him shiver. Teeth scraped along his back as claws dug their way into his hips.   
  
"You're new. None have had this body in such a way." Tsurenai rocked inside of him, slowly pushing. "Your chastity." Laughter. "I've taken your chastity!"   
  
There was blood coming from where Kurama had taken to biting his lip. He had experienced tears and wounds of battle, but not of violent passions. This pain was terrible, shameful and terrible… like his soul was black.   
  
He felt Tsurenai inside him! He felt him draw slowly out, only to push his way back again. Long ago he remembered the feeling of it, but it had never been like this, it had never made him desire to have a blade against his bound wrists, to die… oh gods, the shame, he wanted to die!   
  
Kurama's face was pressed to the dirt, dust was in his nostrils and soil was inhaled into his open and gasping mouth. He couldn't breathe… he couldn't breathe! If he couldn't breathe, he couldn't scream. That itself was the oddest blessing; all his instinct commanded him to cry out, but his pride would not have it.   
  
In his distress his attacker grew ever the more excited, plunging faster and far more vigorously then before. A smooth unscathed chest pressed to a whipped back as the brown kitsune leant far down and pressed his mouth to Kurama's ear.   
  
"So sweet my love." A tongue drew its way up the shell of his ear. "So simple, I thought you'd be a harder catch." The redhead gasped as he was drawn up onto his knees and Tsurenai continued his attack, shoving him roughly forward while pulling Kurama back down over him again. "But you're too weak to fight me away. Too weak to even protect yourself." One hand snaked over his belly and gripped hard to his forgotten length; the result was the youth's cry of pain and need in one desperate breathe.   
  
"I'm your first in this body." The youkai laughed, one hand pumping hard and fierce as the other had found itself tangled in those tresses it so adored. "But my lust cannot be sated for you with one such encounter." Kurama hissed as his head was tilted far back so that Tsurenai could press his face to his exposed and untouched neck.   
  
"I'll take you again and again my love, no matter whom desires to have you. You are unmarked by a demon; unclaimed. You are the perfect prey for one such as I." The kitsune suddenly stopped, his attack ceased as did his hand, only his breathing remained as heated.   
  
"I will hunt you when I desire this young body of yours… no matter where you travel, in this world or your human realm, I shall have you." His heart was loud and the pulse hungry. Kurama knew what was about to happen, and he growled and tried to pull away, only to fail. "And you cannot deny me… for you'll have my claim; you'll be my mate and mine alone."   
  
Tsurenai's mouth clamped down hard into the junction of neck and shoulder on Kurama's right side. The sharpened teeth pierced olive skin and he sucked hard, drawing out the blood and marking the flesh purple. A snarl formed on the kitsune's face and the youth screamed as his rapist's teeth dug deeper and the deadened hand that had been wrapped around the his member constricted again and pistoned with a new frightening fervor.   
  
Kurama thrashed in the youkai's grasp, struggling hard to pull himself off of him, to cease the motion of that clawed hand that strove to complete the bond; if he gave his body in… he would be claimed.   
  
_-Give yourself up.-_ Tsurenai whispered, voice echoing through his mind. _-After all, after this none will want you. You'll be so dirty… like spoiled meat.-_ Kurama gasped as his body shuttered, Tsurenai was pushing slowly into him, seeking the one spot that would make him liquid. _-Only _I_ will still love you, even if you do not love yourself.-_   
  
Kurama's body jerked and he cried as the spot was found, Tsurenai laughed against the broken skin of his prey's neck and pushed again. The body quivered deliciously and he felt as if a fever was burning inside him… soon, so soon.   
  
_-Submit.-_   
  
The kitsune struck once more and his captive quaked in defeat, trembling as it submitted finally to the forced bond. Kurama hissed as his body betrayed him, giving the mark the binding it needed; by the demon law… he was now Tsurenai's.   
  
A curly-haired head threw itself back in a wide-mouthed gasp. The gasp transformed into a silvery and pleased laughter at the successful bond. His now mate twisted weakly inside his grasp and the brown fox felt his lust rise up in him again.   
  
Kurama made no sound as he was pushed down against the matted forest floor once more. Only his forearms supported him as the binding tendrils held the rest of his body aloft as a plaything.   
  
He heard the animalistic hiss of Tsurenai behind him as he was pushed forward into the mat. "Mine…" He rasped, clawed hands catching on the human's skin. "Mine."   
  
It was as if he didn't know who or what he was now, lying there, utterly silent, his body a temple for a lecher's pleasure. Verdant eyes closed in indifference. He had had a plan to escape… he had, but what did it matter now?   
  
_You're better off dead, welcome to the rest of your years._   
  
_~You damned brat…~_ Somewhere within him a deeper voice rumbled; a silver fox darting under his eyelids, beady eyes amber and aflame in anger. _~I would never think that you'd give up so easily. Every fight must end with a dying breath. Tell me Shuichi, are you still breathing?~_   
  
Still breathing. Still alive. Perhaps not free or powerful… but there.   
  
_~We can escape this. ~_ The Youko in him sounded. _~Do you think that I'll have this toothless dog keep me? Feel him out, you know what you are looking for. You're plan… it will work.~_   
  
Kurama shifted, drawing in a deep breath and began to concentrate all he could on all of the yoki around him.   
  
_~Find it… Use it.~_   
  
There… he felt it. A trickle of power seeping into his exhausted spirit. An alien power… Tsurenai's. His heartbeat faster in excitement, his plan could work. When demons mated their energy passed to their partner, whether they meant it to or not. It was never a large amount, but enough. The yoki was flowing stronger by the second; soon he could move freely.   
  
_~Careful! He must not see!~_   
  
But Tsurenai was too caught up in his antics to notice his slowly draining power, and Kurama began to slowly pull the vines off of his left wrist. They constricted for a moment, but began to give under his slight persuasion and prying fingers… just a little more.   
  
There! His wrist was free! Tsurenai snarled behind him, nails drawing fierce lines of torn skin down his back. It was time to end this.   
  
_~Strike hard, strike deadly.~_   
  
In the shaken locks of his hair, sharp blades of grass began to grow, preparing for their launched attack. Poised, Kurama lifted his torso further up with his snared arm. One green eye watched carefully for the right moment.   
  
_~Now!~_   
  
"Get off of me you wretch!"   
  
His slender arm hooked around in a vicious arch, a bent elbow coming in contact with his attackers left temple, at the same moment the grass blades were thrown by the flick of his head, sticking deep into Tsurenai's neck and chest.   
  
A look of surprise painted the kitsune's face as he was thrown sideways into the bramble, colliding heavily with a tree. Pale eyes rolled back into unconsciousness and the creature fell into a slump. Immediately the vines that had been holding Kurama released and instead he bid them to hold his attacker tightly to the thick trunk.   
  
There was a loud whine as the redhead fell back down again, utterly spent. All of the yoki he had stolen, and even the last traces of the ki he had gained back had been thrown into that hit, and while it had done the job well… the next step, leaving the forest, was going to pose a problem.   
  
_~You will need to hurry. His plants will try to bar your way if you take too long.~_   
  
Pain shot Kurama as he tried to stand, half-blinded by dark dots that flecked his vision: he must not pass out! He stumbled as his legs refused to support him standing, or for that matter, bend to do so. The agony of his lower body felt as if there was no way for him to survive it.   
  
_~Go. Don't feel.~_ The Youko was pushing him, his inner forces demanded him to move. Forward he stumbled, catching himself before he kissed the ground only to stand and do so again. A few falls later, he gave up on trying to walk upright and used his hands like a true kitsune.   
  
The basin was slowly disappearing behind him, but the path that he stumbled up tried to slow his way… there were suddenly forks in the trail, new roots rose to trip him, tree's branches tried to block the proper way. He needed to go straight, there was going to be the light of the road soon… just go straight.   
  
No matter how far he stumbled; there was no light to the road. Dusk had come and the daylight had been slaughtered by the horizon, making a splash of red across the now-dying sun. Never mind, it would be born again tomorrow.   
  
He knew he has close when he felt the air grow fresher. Perhaps it was the fact that the Night Blooms were opening, but he could breathe. Kurama gasped in joy and his legs fell limp. There was the road… only feet ahead. Behind him, the undergrowth growled in its master's absence… the red-haired beauty was not to leave.   
  
The last of Tsurenai's pets reached out to catch him, but Kurama had drug himself onto the road and into the last blood-light of the sun. Twitching irritated, the vines shrunk away; they could not follow.   
  
Kurama wrenched himself down the road, unresponding legs dragging behind him in their lifeless manner. The end of this demon forest was close… he knew it.   
  
A breath was a growl of sound as he struggled to move forward, roots impeding him still, torn hands groping blindly at the path before him. He had to go; he had to get out of this forest…   
  
After moments of scraping himself forward, he fell exhausted into a niche between the roots of a tree. Kurama tried to move once more, but his body would no longer aide him.   
  
_**~Help me… somebody…~**_   
  
Deep within him the Youko flared at the plea, sending the cry outward in his last desperate roll of energy, hoping that it would meet the desired ears. Kurama gasped weakly as the roar from inside him almost seemed to strike him between the eyes and he fell heavily against the ground… unconscious.   
  
Beside him, a Night Flower bloomed as the blood of a murdered sun faded; it's sable petals soft and seductive.   
  
  
  
  
  


***~TBC~***

  
  
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Post-Notes: Disgusted? Yes? No? I don't care. I wanted to revolt some of you and I wanted to well… get other reactions from others. You may have liked it… but that's just because you're a sick little fuck like myself.   
  
On the rating matter, I know that this was pushing the R-ness of this, but it still isn't bad enough to be NC-17. I didn't use any horribly gratuitous language or painfully smutty details… at least I think I didn't. I wanted to convey pain, so I had to put some in there. This is a sort of R+ material, I honestly hope I won't have to edit this to repost it, this is, after-all, the most elicit piece I've ever done, and I think editing it would ruin the content.   
  
Rape is bad. Stealing someone's freedom is badder. (Yes, I know that's not a real word)   
  
The Second Part will be coming eventually, Hiei and his bitchin' attitude will be starring in it, as well as a bit of a caring friendly side that only Kurama really ever witnesses. Wee.   
  
Kudos to anyone who can tell me what Tsurenai Fuyukasi's name means… ah screw it I'll tell you when the second part is posted anyway. Isn't he the likkel bastard? Who could blame him though… it is Kurama we're talking about.   
  
If you like it, review, If you don't… review. Come on, what did you think I was gunna say?   
  
  
  
I will never willingly go near vines again. _~Green Bird_


	2. A Touch of Despair

Title: Stain   
Show: Yu Yu Hakusho   
Pairing: OC/Kurama, Hiei+Kurama   
Author: Green Bird   
Disclaimer: I don't own this. You know I don't own this.   
Rating: **R+** (pushing it, but I still believe that it's R or 16+ material)   
Note: Kurama goes looking for his muse in the Makai, but falls prey to another Kitsune (OC) that recognizes him as Youko. After a rather horrific encounter Hiei finds him beaten and soiled, not to mention the fact that there is a mark on him… a mark that will be hard to erase. Three Parter. Small Shounen-ai in this part. The timeline however… I have no idea. This chapter is um… I dunno. Medicinal? Violent? Sweet? Awkward? Squickish? O_o… All wrapped in one, mind.   
  
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Stain   
  
Part Two: A Touch of Despair

  
  
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A blade swung through the air, too quick for average eyes to see and still only a blur to more experienced retinas. A tree groaned as it slid slantways, shorn in half by the speedy swipe. Quickly, the blade fell again in several more hacking motions, flaying the flesh of the wood as if it were a butcher's meat. Soon several smaller and more manageable pieces lay out on the forest's floor.   
  
The katana was hidden in its plain black sheath and the figure that had attacked the plant so mercilessly kneeled down to collect the mutilated firewood in his arms. Even though some might not enjoy the task, the fire demon found that it was as good as any physical training. Carving the enormous trees of the Makai into boards as if they had personally insulted him was slightly entertaining.   
  
The wild things of the forest scattered as he bolted by them, hardly a flash in their vision. The youkai was dangerous to them… not even the predators were dumb enough to challenge him. Although his size advertised possible weakness, the bite of his blade and kick of his fists had taught them to turn tail when he came near. The only creatures not frightened to death were the birds… but then again, he could only jump so high.   
  
Crimson painted the sky as the sun sought to flee from the encroaching night. The youkai landed lightly at his shelter's entrance and walked calmly into it. He had decided on a rock overhanging instead of the boughs of a tree… it only seemed logical if he was staying there for a while. A stand of unusual bamboo shot up directly outside of the overhang, thick and nearly impassible. He had shorn a path inward, giving himself a sort of door. Directly inside and far enough away not to cause an uproar of flame was his small fire pit. He hardly ever used it for anything but cooking what he had managed to dice up in the woods or skewer in the nearby stream. Darkness was no problem for him and this time of the year was hardly ever cold.   
  
The location was almost unusual… he was not perched high up and was in quite the remote spot. The nearest city was a good distance away and while he had spent several days in it, the youkai was not willing to be so near so much trash at once. The wilds suited his current mood better and everything was far more undisturbed.   
  
It was in this hushed mindset the demon found himself when the cry came. It was small at first; a prickling at the back of his slender neck that spread in a chilling wave, but soon it grew into a the nagging feeling one gets of being watched. Then came the pain of the cry itself.   
  
_~Help me… somebody…~_   
  
Like ice water thrown into his face, the small demon reeled at the explosion inside his head. It was harsh and startling, like the breaking of glass. The surge of power that carried the message was unusual to him, but trademarked by something familiar. That something made the wood clatter onto the stone floor.   
  
Outside, the light had faded to a glow and wide, red eyes darted around in a sudden desperation. Hiei sought out the pulse he had felt… where had it come from? His Jagan flared to life under its cloth, an oval of purple alight through the white. His hand snagged the ward and tore it away, the violet iris glinting as it searched.   
  
There was something tense in the air to the west of him. It drew the most attention from the sharp eye and he turned in response.   
  
_That way._   
  


**~**

  
  
Koshokuki was a tangle of oversized and noisy trees ringing a small valley. The presence of it was forbidding and somewhat cryptic. He had but run through it once and the clamor of the plants in it was too much to handle. It was an annoying forest, if ever such a thing existed. Hiei hated that that was where his Jagan lead him.   
  
Without pausing, the dark youkai darted under its thick cover, sprinting over the lower dead branches of the trees that seemed overpowered with vines. His ears shifted as the trees began to speak. Their voices were angry… confused. It was an odd occurrence; these entities normally were welcoming and friendly.   
  
He knew what they were meant to do from the very name of the forest. These voices lured their visitors into some incubus's grasp; the best thing to do was to flee or ignore them. He couldn't afford the latter.   
  
The purple eye shifted his direction, bringing him closer to the edge of the valley. His yoki searched the foreign one out. Only one could be sensed. It was weak, injured… a mutation of what he had felt calling to him… but it wasn't it. Hiei knew what he had felt; Kurama was somewhere in this forest.   
  
Why couldn't he find him?   
  
There was a surge of unusual fear in the small demon. Kurama in Koshokuki, in human form, with tainted power, calling for help and was no longer strong enough to relay any signal…   
  
Hiei jumped down onto the ground, eyes glowing in the blackened expanse. He needed to find his comrade in this darkness before the… lecher… found him. Perhaps for the second time.   
  
Sharp teeth gnashed angrily. The thought that passed through enraged the small demon beyond belief. He would not jump to such conclusions; he needed to simply find the kitsune and get him out of this warped place.   
  
It was his sense of smell that came to aide his mission. Something stabbed at Hiei's small nub of a nose… blood and sweat. He hissed slightly as the breath drifted out; the musk of copulation perfumed the scent as well. Booted feet barely struck the ground as he ran, inhaling in small puffs, following the counter-flow of the air that carried the message. He didn't have to go far.   
  
The first thing he noticed was the pale white of bare skin against the black trunk of a tree. It glowed a milky alabaster under the faint light that the newly risen moon gave off, but upon closer inspection the surface of porcelain, the figure's back, was marred with offending areas of imperfection; lines of brown and red, smudges of purple and black. Scratches. Bruises… The second thing he noticed was that the figure was quite naked.   
  
Kurama's gorgeous red hair was tangled and filled with burrs; it created a messy halo around his head, looking like spilt blood. Sharp green eyes were closed in unconscious sleep and his split mouth was parted as it breathed so shallowly.   
  
Hiei approached slowly, desperate to confirm the body. A soft and normally compassionate face, now beaten and pale, ratified the identity. Red eyes took in the state of the kitsune and his stomach clenched in anger. Almost in that rage, he tore off his cloak and threw it over the soiled figure of his partner.   
  
_-You cannot have him. -_ The tree before him growled through the quiet of the youthful night, its branches moving only slightly. _–He is ours. We have marked him. We adore him. He is ours.-_   
  
There was a hiss of sound and the katana cut deeply into the trunk of the black-barked tree before disappearing back into its holder with a flash. The fire demon stared at the deep score in the suddenly silent tree and prayed that the monster that owned it felt the cut tenfold. Then, unabashed, he knelt down and collected Kurama's bare form against him, hands cautious to injury, unknowing of broken bone or open wound.   
  
"Then," he snarled, turning away, "you must come and get him."   
  
In his arms, the kitsune gave the slightest groan of protest and the youkai dipped his head as if to make certain that he was still incapacitated. The check confirmed, he set fire to his feet, leaving the forest and his personal vow on the tree.   
  


**~**

  
  
In the dark recesses, two shocking silver eyes floated, watching what its plants had come to tell him: his newly made mate was being carted away. No matter, he couldn't go far. This was almost good for him; when the fox called to the human again, he would be healed and healthy. He hated caring for his victims.   
  
A thin hand pressed to the throat where Kurama's grass blades had buried themselves. Only small marks remained as consequence… though his temple still throbbed from the strike.   
  
_-So fiery my love, and so very clever as well. You are quite the worthy prey. -_ A smile passed Tsurenai's lips when remembering the demon that had taken his mate away. _– Some wonderful allies you have. I cannot believe your rescuer is the little Koorime damnation himself. -_ Silvery laughter shook the leaves of the forest.   
  
_- My, my, this just keeps getting better and better!-_   
  


**~.~.~**

  
  
The light that crept under his eyelids was soft and, oddly enough, tainted green. Heavy dark eyelashes opened and the room swam. The details were blurred in his retinas and Kurama moved his head and blinked to clear the vision.   
  
There was a shadow covering some of the soft twilight. It was the shape of a man, but smaller, more familiar; Hiei.   
  
"I'm here." It came out a croak, his own.   
  
"You are." The silhouette spoke, moving to cover more of the green twilight.   
  
"You found me?" The light seemed to be too powerful. It was too much to look at.   
  
Hiei moved once more and his shadow became larger. "Yes."   
  
Kurama would say nothing more. He couldn't… Hiei had found him; Hiei had seen the state he was in. He couldn't look at the shadow of his friend who now approached him and turned his face away. Red streams of silk fell away from his shoulder, revealing the curve of his swan-like neck. Then, merely steps before him, he heard Hiei inhale sharply. Kurama understood and his hand flew to his neck and touched the mark upon it.   
  
It was hot and sore, sending a quiver of pain through him. The wound felt wrong to his expert touch… too soft, too moist. Kurama drew his fingers away and stared at them. The fingertips were coated in fluid, both black and red. A smell came to him.   
  
Rotting flesh.   
  
The silhouette of Hiei backed away, ruby eyes staring at the festering sore. For the first time his face became clear. The fire demon almost recoiled, seemingly disgusted at the sight of the mark.   
  
"So it's like that is it?" He frowned, watching the wound.   
  
Frown turned to an angered scowl and Kurama found that he couldn't speak. The mark was rotting away his entire neck… he couldn't breathe.   
  
The Jaganshi spoke in a sudden hiss towards him, not glaring at the rancid wound that ate his skin, but into his widened eyes. "…How revolting."   
  


**~.~.~**

  
  
The fire crackled angrily like a set of human fireworks. Small pockets of moisture in the flesh of the wood burst as they were heated by the flames, popping outward in little geysers that were quickly eaten by the tongues of the fire. Suspended above the angry lashes of red and yellow was the spitted body of a pigeon.   
  
Hiei watched it idly; the cooking meat was beginning to give off an appealing scent. He'd be damned if the birds weren't afraid of him now.   
  
Night had folded around in a thick envelope, but in a few hours the sun would rise and shatter the still void. The orange light of the fire crawled its way across the smooth stone floor, dancing upon it with a quiet ferocity. Hiei would not sleep.   
  
A sound came from the back of the dwelling… a quieted moan. Kurama's. The demon blinked at the still sleeping figure. He lay on a soft make-shift mattress of fronds… the Jaganshi thought it would be better then letting the redhead sleep on his extra clothing; they were coarse and most-likely uncomfortable.   
  
An arm moved slightly under the black cloak that had been draped across his still bare body, coming up to touch his neck. Hiei needed to find some creature to rob clothing from, but he would not leave now when Kurama was in such a weakened state.   
  
The youkai was very aware of the protective stare he was giving and felt himself soften up in it. In the condition that his partner was in; he would have to sacrifice some warmth to the kitsune. Kurama was injured in both body and soul, throwing cold shoulders and hardened glares would not heal him. For once, he would have to serve as the host. The thought was estrange to him, but required. Hiei prodded the fire uninterestingly. The fox had indeed done this for him on occasions before: he must return hospitality. He preferred to return hospitality. A block of wood collapsed into embers; glowing white hot and dangerous. Red eyes thinned in thought.   
  
What was Kurama doing wandering around in the Makai without assistance? Although the kitsune was by no means weak or vulnerable, it was a fool's errand for one that had been removed from an environment for so long to simply reintroduce themselves. He couldn't possibly have been looking for him could he?   
  
Why would Kurama come into the Makai to search him out when he would eventually come to call? What was so important to come looking for him?   
  
Another cry sounded from slightly parted lips and Hiei jerked back to the alert, watching as Kurama's face contorted in a sort of anguish.   
  
The fire demon scowled as he took the spit and bird off the fire. He did not want to consider what Kurama was having nightmares about.   
  


**. . .**

  
  
There was something warm and scented against his face… wet as well. It moved gently over his cheeks and down to his chin, barely brushing his lips. Cooler fingers pulled infringing hair away from his forehead so the warm, moist thing could pass over it as well. It took a moment to figure out that his face was being cleaned.   
  
"Ahhh…" It felt good; the cool air that bit the moist skin soothed him.   
  
"Finally." The voice was softer then he had ever heard it, but still held that characteristic condescending tone. "You sleep quite a lot."   
  
"Hiei…"   
  
"Don't move." The cloth went away and came back on his right hand, lifted by the other's. It passed between his fingers, trying to clean away any dirt or grit that had rubbed it's way onto him. Kurama was very aware that his body had been turned to its side and he lay so that his left shoulder was to the ground. Sleepily, eyes still closed, he shifted only slightly under the thin covering that was draped over him.   
  
Pain shot him like an arrow, tearing down him with a vengeance. Suddenly… everything came into a horrific focus, tearing him out of the almost euphoric state he'd been bathing in.   
  
"I told you not to move." Hiei was working the cloth up his arm, seemingly having previously wrapped the lacerated wrist, careful of the scratches in his flesh. The cloth was moving up his right arm… his right shoulder… to his neck…   
  
Kurama jerked his arm out of the tender grip of Hiei's hand. The pain roared at him for the sudden movement and his face clenched. The redhead drew his arm in protectively… he must not let Hiei go near that mark… he must not see it!   
  
The Jaganshi nodded in silent conversation. "I understand." He withdrew and sat back, Kurama managed to open his eyes a crack and gaze at him. The smaller demon sat cross-legged to his front, bowl of steaming herbal water near his foot and cloth in hand. Hiei looked strangely at him, absolutely calm and… normal.   
  
"But, you're wounded…" he continued, dipping the cloth again. "If you want to clean yourself, I will not help." Kurama blinked, confused. "If you do not want to be touched, then I will not do it for you."   
  
Hiei looked patiently down on him. So, he knew very well what had happened in the forest's bowls. Why did he look so… so… docile? Why didn't he have that same look as the Hiei in his dream?   
  
_That's because he hasn't seen it yet. He may know what has happened, but he might not know how bad…_   
  
Kurama became aware that Hiei was waiting for him to speak. His arm moved again and in a sort of foolish yet valiant effort, Kurama tried to push himself up. He fell, but his head was caught by a quick, white hand.   
  
"Let me do it." Why such a soft voice? That voice had never been that soft before. Was he still in the dream? "Your energy is too low to aid much in healing; we'll need to resort to the original formula of dress and wrap before you become infected."   
  
Infected… like the putrid, rotting wound on his neck. _I am already infected._   
  
"Enough." Hiei had heard it, and suddenly the voice became harder. "Be logical." His hand gripped the cloak that had been used as a blanket to cover him and pulled it partially away.   
  
"Hiei!" Kurama gasped at the sudden exposure.   
  
"Kurama." A warning was there now, and the Jaganshi moved himself up onto his knees, pushing the injured one's shoulder lightly so he could get to his chest. The cloth passed smoothly down the scratched plane of flesh, passing over bite marks on his breast and scores over his stomach in indifference. Kurama groaned in mortification at the fact that some of his seed had dried to his abdomen and hid his face. Hiei didn't seem to notice or care, cleaning him off, dipping the cloth, and then moving to Kurama's sides.   
  
Over the arm he had drawn up to hide himself, the fox watched Hiei's face as he worked. Normally anyone else would have said it lacked any expression at all, but Kurama saw how the corners of the demon's mouth were drawn too tight. It seemed to be a sort of worry.   
  
Suddenly he found that Hiei had turned his head to look at him. Red eyes asked a silent question and he picked up on it in a second. The fire demon's hand was hovering over his hip, right were the cloak had fallen to conveniently cover from the waist down. He had finished with his chest and side.   
  
"Go on." Kurama whispered breathlessly, turning his eyes away to the fronds of his bedding. His right leg moved feebly to give the proper access needed for the coming task… his body throbbed dully in infuriated response.   
  
"Kurama…"   
  
"Do it." The cloak was tossed aside and the fox lay bare on the mat. Hiei sighed at the shame on his companion's face, but went to work.   
  
The fire demon set his jaw as he carefully worked. There were finger's bruised into Kurama's hips, bite marks on his thighs, not to mention what looked like rope burns. The warm and tainted water rolled off the discolored and raw skin and Hiei's found his heart beat suddenly faster at where his clothed hand fell.   
  
Kurama's breath shuttered when he was touched and he screwed his eyes tightly shut. The fire demon's caress was far more feathery on the tender flesh and quickly moved away, uncomfortable. The youkai then picked the cloak up once again and covered him before coming to his feet.   
  
The nervous embarrassment that Kurama had worked up disappeared as his foot was suddenly submerged in the warm and invigorating water and kneaded between two small hands. The torn heel and open wound in the hollow of his ankle were scrutinized over before being gently cleaned.   
  
Hiei carefully wrapped Kurama's ankle in a pale bandage, somewhat like the one covering his dragon. The other foot was addressed with another bandage as well, protecting the torn sole of his foot. The slipper-like shoes that Kurama had worn had been long lost.   
  
The water that swirled in the bowl had become dirtied with the blood and dirt that the cloth had collected. Hiei stood swiftly and looked down at the still hiding fox before him. He frowned, knowing that what he would say would only amplify the discomfort of his new ward.   
  
"I'll be back in a moment to clean your other side."   
  
Hiei stalked quickly away, sneaking out the entrance of the dwelling. The redhead stared after him, not even noticing the place in which he was housed and too frightened to actually care. His other side… no. That was going too far, too intimate. He wouldn't let him.   
  
Pushing slightly with his one free arm Kurama attempted to roll onto his back, but had to muffle a cry as he did. He knew now why the youkai had decided to keep him on his side; the cuts on his back and pain at his tailbone were the worst of his entire collection.   
  
"Stop that." Hiei was back in the doorway, empty bowl in one hand and vial in the other. The low burning fire held a large pot over it, the water mixture turning inside. It was filled in haste and the fire demon walked towards him.   
  
"You don't need to." Kurama stared at him, not threatening, but pleading.   
  
"I do now that you've seen keen on hiding it from me."   
  
"I don't want you to…"   
  
"Can you do it yourself?" Hiei asked the question knowing that the answer was no. Kurama could hardly move his legs and his arms did not have their flexibility back to reach properly.   
  
"Just…" The fox closed his eyes. "Just leave it… you've done enough."   
  
"If it was enough, you would be healed."   
  
Green eyes opened at the statement to find that Hiei had moved, determinedly walking around his mat. Kurama flattened himself on his back and glared at the demon who had kneeled down at his side.   
  
"Move." Hiei looked at him calmly, but it wasn't going to last for long.   
  
"No, I do not want you to do this."   
  
He had expected for the fire demon to get angry, but the look he got had more of an upset feeling to it. The youkai spoke again, a tired frustration in him. "Don't be difficult… and foolish for that matter. It needs to be done."   
  
"Why by you? I am disgraced enough." Kurama frowned, his face was growing hot.   
  
"There is no reason to be disgraced." Hiei dipped the cloth and began to wring it, never looking away from the fox. "All I'm doing is cleaning your injuries."   
  
"And what is going through your head as you do?!" The higher voice broke in distress and Kurama was amazed by it. He snapped his eyes shut and remained a stone on his back, breathing heavily.   
  
_-"So dirty… like spoiled meat."-_   
  
It was the thought that did it… Hiei had heard it too well. The rag fell to the floor and both of his hands gripped the sides of Kurama's head almost violently. Verdant eyes stared, shocked at the rage-filled face now so near to his own.   
  
"You dare to think I think that! You dare to lower me to such a level?!" The youkai's eyes burned in some nameless indignation, the fire in them sparking and conveying a frightening heat.   
  
"Hiei… I didn't…"   
  
"Turn." It was a command.   
  
"Please Hiei… don't force me…"   
  
"Don't make me force you! I don't wish to do it!" His face was released and his shoulder grabbed instead. Hiei's fingers gripped onto Kurama's shoulder none-to-kindly and wrenched it forward, lifting the fox's body. The redhead gasped as the demon's touch grazed the mark, and he pulled the hand roughly away, trying to roll back.   
  
Hiei's hand caught it and pushed him even further, getting Kurama to lie on his stomach more then his side. "Stop it!" The youkai snapped, not too loud, but sharp enough when the redhead suddenly thrashed to guard himself. "Kurama stop this!"   
  
The fox gasped in a sudden unrecognizable panic and tried to strike Hiei with his free arm only to have it caught in a firm grasp. The demon was obviously trying not to hurt him, but the bruised flesh made Kurama whimper as his hit was prevented. Hiei suddenly pressed his palms down on the fox's shoulder blades, forcing him to lie still.   
  
"Kurama _please_ stop!"   
  
He did.   
  
Hiei sighed as his friend went limp, but scowled when he felt the unmistakable shutter of a sob. It wasn't the start of a crying spell, but a single weeping gasp. The product of exhaustion, pain, and simple misery of being humiliated.   
  
The cloth came back from where he had dropped it, and as carefully possible, the fire demon massaged the bruised and broken flesh free off its caked blood and dirt. Hardly touching the skin, Hiei traced the line of a claw-mark with his fingertip. Kurama shook once again in a sob.   
  
The fox knew that this was all meant to help him, that it was all in good nature… and no matter how many times before this day he had wanted to be touched in any caring way by the youkai, he wanted nothing more for Hiei to stop. He didn't want him to see what had been done... The fire demon knew that Kurama had been raped… he most likely did the second that he had found him, but he didn't want to be invaded like this. He wanted to deny it. He wanted to deal with it on his own. Hiei wasn't supposed to involve himself at all! Why was he? Why wouldn't he listen!   
  
A hand rested on the small of his back, patiently waiting for any message. Kurama buried his face into the mattress, drawing an arm over his head, fisting the hand in his hair. It was horrible; the two of them had never been intimate before. He had never lain with Hiei… they had never gone much father then their tine moments of mutual curiosity. He didn't want it to be this way… if there was ever the chance of it being real at all.   
  
And now it never could be.   
  
"Kurama…" A warm whisper broke over him, laced with a sort of unusual, calm pity that was alien to the voice and even the speaker. "I'm trying to help."   
  
He screwed his eyes shut and nodded.   
  
The cloak was pulled away for the last time and the cloth continued its steadfast work. Color had risen to Hiei's face as he glided his hand down over the fox's rump and moved to address the cuts on the back of normally smooth legs. There was fresh blood painted on Kurama's inner thigh, Hiei gritted his teeth, knowing exactly where it came from.   
  
"I need to apply some salve."   
  
The small vial was uncorked and the unscented transparent liquid was poured down onto the cloth. Knowing that he should be mortified at what he was doing, but overcome with a sense of duty, Hiei gently slipped his hand between the abused flesh and felt Kurama gasp and jerk at the sting of the liquid.   
  
He moved slowly, taking time for the salve to work its way into the raw skin. The cloth was dropped in the bowl… the water tinted itself red. Hiei groaned internally, it wasn't enough, he didn't reach far enough. There were open wounds... inside.   
  
The youkai frowned for a moment in indecision. It was no matter to him what had to be done, but, for Kurama it was a totally different situation. This could do more damage then good… Red eyes watched the kitsune's face for a moment and when no protest was sounded, Hiei continued his work.   
  
The thick, clear unguent had a cooling quality on the skin of his hand, one finger was slicked with it and, holding his breath, he slipped inside. Kurama hissed through his teeth, face burning in absolutely painful chagrin. His hand clamped down hard on the claim mark on his neck, making pain stab his spine, distracting him from the sting of the salve that would try to heal him, but at the same time, threatened to break him completely.   
  
Hiei tried to finish quickly, knowing what this was doing to the fox, knowing that Kurama was suffering the worst humiliation possible. The second he withdrew his hand, Hiei plunged it into the dirty water and drew the cover up over the fox's nude form. Ruby eyes caught where his ward was violently grasping his neck, making the flesh ghostly white. Crimson blood seeped out from under the fingers.   
  
The fire demon collected the bowl and stood quickly, wanting to give the proper space for recovery. The truth was that he didn't want to stay near any longer then necessary… Kurama obviously did not want or need it.   
  
Dirty water was dumped outside and Hiei washed the cloth and his hands of the ointment in the water over the fire, no matter that it was boiling. He cast his eyes over to Kurama's immobile and silent form and felt his stomach sink. Now exactly what was he to do?   
  
Hospitality was difficult.   
  


**. . .**

  
  
The minute details carved onto the underside of a fern became the only thing that Kurama could bear to look at. Rows of small spoors lay embedded into the leaflets and the ends of the green fingers curled inward.   
  
The fox's paced breathing caused a few particular fronds to rustle. He had refused that one tear that had rolled down to hang from his sharp nose from dropping to its fragmented end. Instead, the back of his hand smeared the salt water across a burning cheek.   
  
This was all part of survival; attack and injury, rest and recovery… but why did he feel like it would have been better to wake up alone in the forest? Why did Hiei have to hear that desperate plea of his?   
  
His touch was so unusual… why did it have to be so personal? Why couldn't he be cold and uncaring like he had always come to expect?   
  
_-"You dare to lower me to such a level?"-_   
  
The darker demon remained near the fire across the shelter. Kurama felt a sort of tremor of nervousness overcome him. He couldn't hide the scar of the claim on his neck for long. Hiei would know soon enough, if he hadn't figured it already, but then what would happen? What would the youkai do now that he knew that Kurama no longer belonged to himself; was no longer was a free being to choose who he wished, if he ever wished for them in the first place…?   
  
Kurama had to break the bond.   
  
_~You know what that requires.~_ The voice interrupted his consciousness almost harshly. It was the first time the Youko had spoken, perhaps because his energy had been too weak to allow it. By the way the rumbling voice almost quailed, it seemed so. _~You know what the law is.~_   
  
_Are you saying we can't do it?_   
  
_~I'm saying that you might not have the window of time needed. This poison still runs thick in you, by the time it is diluted your putrid lover will be well recovered.~_ There was a silence and Kurama could swear he sensed the flick of a silver tail in thought. When the voice echoed in him again, it was more cautious. _~You know what the claim does. If he calls you, you must heed it. That is both of your price. He may not give you the time to recover.~_   
  
_And Hiei…_   
  
_~What do you think?~_ Kurama moved to look at the youkai again, who had kneeled near the pit, making no move to approach.   
  
_He won't allow it…_   
  
_~Tsurenai is not foolish. He will take him out first.~_   
  
The jolt of internal humor hurt him. _Heh, good luck._   
  
Hiei's gaze jerked across to him and the Youko spoke gravely. _~Do not doubt the power of collateral.~_   
  
There was the soft exhale of more laughter. _Are you saying that I am what he will bargain with?_   
  
"Do you need anything?" The question drew Kurama out of thought and the fox looked up to see the darker one was standing slowly, almost awaiting command.   
  
He decided he would use the temporary obedience. "Yes. If it wouldn't be too much, I'll need some water and leaves to dilute the toxins in me."   
  
The youkai blinked at the sudden change of the fox, the blush was still there, but fading. Kurama recovered from things rather amazingly.   
  
"Toxins, you mean drugs?" Hiei rumbled, noting that the paralysis that plagued the fox was not merely injury-induced. There was a nod in response. "The wound on your ankle I suppose?"   
  
"A plant… its effects seem to be long lasting." Kurama tried to hold their mutual gaze longer, but it broke as he glanced down to his covered feet. "I need you to fetch me some herbs to counter it."   
  
Hiei bobbed his head slightly, agreeing calmly. "Of course."   
  


**. . .**

  
  
A few moments later, a streak of dark fabric sprinted out the bamboo shrouded entrance on a hunt for some odd flowers and a particular root. As Hiei's black booted feet struck the ground, his mind raced just as fast. His thoughts went back to the untreated wound on Kurama's neck, to the degrading task he had forced upon the kitsune, and above all; to the maker of the wounds themselves.   
  
The fire demon scowled and decided that he would need to find a few more choice weeds if things were to work out properly.   
  


**. . .**

  
  
Kurama closed his eyes, drawing in a long, rattling breath. Hiei had left with his orders and without question. Finally, he could…   
  
The tears angered him, but wouldn't comply with his plea for them to cease. Hot lines of water drew streaks down his face, but his complexion did not become mottled and red like most when crying. It was not crying, it was merely tears. He could justify tears, couldn't he?   
  
_~You can survive this. We can…~_ For the first time, the Youko was no longer scolding or condescending… but spoke warmly. _~You need to handle this.~_   
  
"I will." Why he spoke aloud… he couldn't tell. "I can do it."   
  
_~Breaking a bond…~_   
  
"It requires bloodshed."   
  
_~Both bloods.~_   
  
"I'll do what I must." Kurama's hand quivered as it hovered over the still-bleeding wound of his neck. The wound that to him, was like a leper's sore. "You know that… and Hiei… he must be dealt with."   
  
_~ The fire demon will deal with himself, and with us for that matter. He will not stand idle.~_ The fox gave a flicker of obvious nerves. _~Please tell me that you are not so vain as not to see it! We are a valuable catch…~_ the Youko hissed, and his eyes glowed their dangerous amber, _~… but the damnation himself…~_   
  
Kurama's eyes shot open… "Oh no."   
  


**~ TBC ~**

  
  
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Note: Alright, alright. I'm sorry! This turned into three parts instead of the planned two and I've warped it a little. Don't worry, it gets nice and violent in the next part. Whatever you expect… that's what you'll get. The plot bunnies have fled in fear and I'm not in the mood for any big twists. Actually, I just can't thin of any.   
  
The update will be in another month or so. I had meant to get this up earlier but my computer disk deleted a good half of this and I had to rewrite.   
  
I know I said I'd tell you what the names meant in this part, but I'm waiting until the end. Now you've got to figure out what Koshokuki means too.   
  
In some fics people kill Hiei… I pimp Kurama. For some reason I love to torture him. Poor kitsune. :(   
  
Love you. ~ _Midori Tori_ (= Green Bird … oh come on, you knew that!) 


	3. A Lover's Fire Section I

Title: Stain   
Show: Yu Yu Hakusho   
Pairing: OC/Kurama, HieiKurama   
Author: _Green Bird_   
Disclaimer: I don't own this. You know I don't own this.   
Rating: PG-13 (this part)  
Note: I don't know. God I'm tired. There's no excuse for how late this is other than the fact that I am so busy I always forget. I'm sorry I do all these things to Kurama… but it wouldn't have worked otherwise.   
  
**Part Three, Section One Notes:** This last part was way long, so I needed to separate it into two sections for you. That and the final leg was giving me trouble. Give me two weeks and I'll have it for you. Heh, well after five months, two weeks will be easy!   
  


**

* * *

**

****

****

**Stain**   
  
Part Three: A Lover's Fire   
  
_Section One_

  
  
.  
  
"Crush the leaves, but only cut the root and boil it inside the cloth. I only require the extracts of the plant; not the flesh. That makes for something else entirely."   
  
Kurama lay prone on the mat, giving directions to the bustling Jaganshi at the fire. Hiei complied obediently, doing the scullery-work as if it were the norm. The water hissed at the youkai's fingers and the tied cloth was pushed around in the small pot, tinting the water an ugly brown. There was a tart smell coming from the concoction, but when Kurama caught wind of it across the room he was pleased.   
  
"It's coming along well, only a few more minutes."   
  
The mood of the day had lifted considerably from the horror of that morning and in the afternoon's light things seemed to be mildly pleasant. Despite the new and irking fear of his situation, Kurama felt somewhat relaxed and definitely relieved by the progression of the anti-toxin.   
  
However, Hiei was on a different limb and had remained stone faced and concentrated in his craft. He was meticulous over how he dealt with the small ground leaves and how he had cut the root. It was important to rid the fox of his vulnerability as fast as he could.   
  
The truth was; Kurama's weakness felt as if it was his own. A fox without teeth posed little threat.   
  
"That's about enough Hiei." The redhead's voice didn't hide his eagerness, and the darker youkai felt the same wash through him. Using a rather unattractive make-shift spoon, Hiei ladled the steaming medicinal tea into a bowl and walked it over to his unmoving ward.   
  
Kurama tried his hardest to sit up, but the best he could do was prop himself on one arm. Now both of his limbs had gained enough movement to feed himself, and he was grateful for it. If the fire youkai needed to spoon feed him, he might have given up the antitoxin all together.   
  
Hiei kneeled to his side, cradling the sloshing bowl as if it were a fragile possession. He set it in the fox's outstretched hand, cupping it enough to make it secure. The hot steam of the tea rose up into the fox's nose, and he fought against sneezing at it.   
  
"This should work." Kurama breathed onto the liquid, making the steam turn in the air. By the look on his face, he was praying that it would.   
  
As the liquid moved it's way down his throat it caused it to expand with it's warmth. The tart taste of the root attacked his tongue, but he swallowed it in indifference. Right now the kitsune could care less if it were blood; he would drink whatever he could to wash this paralysis off of him.   
  
Ruby red eyes watched as their ward sucked down the concoction, emptying the bowl in one drawn-out drink. How fast the medicine worked, he did not know, but at least now there was nothing more they could do about it but wait.   
  
Hiei felt as if a weight had been taken off of his chest.   
  
As he set the bowl down on the stone floor, Kurama felt the swell of the medicine inside of him and his heart fluttered in excitement. In only a few minutes he would feel nerves awaken to their master's will and he would be able to move once more… his ki would be on it's way back, and his enslavement in weakness would be through. He would be free.   
  
The thoughts were interrupted by the fire demon, who had moved away to fetch something. "When you gain your movement again, perhaps these would be appreciated." A bundle of white cloth was set to the stone at the fox's side. Kurama reached out to touch it with his one able hand. The garment shivered as it was stroked, sending a shimmer over its snowy folds. It was silk.   
  
The fox spoke in a whisper, ivy eyes darting up to catch the dark one in them. "Where did you get this?"   
  
Hiei shrugged. "Some foolish youkai left them on the bank of the river." Kurama's eyes widened and the fire demon smirked. "Don't worry, I left him his undergarments."   
  
A smile graced the kitsune's lips and he was thrilled at the concept of clothes. If it were privacy in any form at all, he would take it.   
  
Slowly, the control came back to his legs and Kurama pulled them up near his chest, ignoring the pain of the way his back stung as the skin was drawn taught. Strengthening his back, the youth struggled to push himself up to sit. Hiei watched Kurama sway for a moment as he sat, a look of satisfaction on his face, then turned as the redhead pooled the cloak over his waist and reached for the garments.   
  
The shirt was white and silvery, laced with patterns of bamboo stalks and leaves in gold and green embroidery. Clothing like this was uncommon for many in the Makai, but the one demon who could afford it normally wore it with grace and pride. Hiei had not just stolen him these because they would cover him, but because the fire demon knew that it would suit him well. The fox almost smiled at the idea of it and held the garment out for further inspection.   
  
All traces of contentment vanished and Kurama cursed inwardly. Although the tails of it were long, as if mock Chinese tradition, the neck of the shirt was far too low to cover his wound. There was a good chance that it could easily be spotted under his hair. But, before he could even have a small tirade in his mind over it, something small and distracting fell from the garment.   
  
It was a flower. A petite, gentle, white-pedaled blossom that seemed to hold some sort of innocent grace to it. It was exact in it's perfection; each petal identical and symmetrically curved to match its mates. He twisted the minute stem in clasped forefingers and looked over to the fire demon curiously. Hiei looked back, spotted the flower and shrugged.   
  
"I picked the wrong one."   
  
Kurama creased his lips and left it at that, bringing his gaze back to the bloom. Perhaps it was some sort of apology, or maybe a sign of reassurance. Maybe Hiei did just pick the wrong plant… but wasn't the flower he requested for blue? He didn't take Hiei as one for colorblindness.   
  
The feeling of the silk was like cool water on his skin and he breathed deeply. There was a wild scent to the fabric, which made him curious to the former owner. Hiei had, just as he said, taken no undergarments, as it was actually seen as a very ningen practice to wear them. Instead, the fox surveyed the pants to the outfit; loose, soft and a deep green in color and puzzled on how he would get them on. Even though his movement and control was so close to being fully restored, he knew that if he tried to stand for the action, he would crumble. The only way to fit the pants over him was to lie down and pull them up over. How embarrassing and clumsy!   
  
At that precise moment, the fire demon across the chamber walked out without so much as a look back. Sometimes Hiei knew exactly the best course of action.   
  


**. . .**

  
  
The late afternoon found Kurama walking, which, due to the previous hours, was a sizable feat. Walking lead to the need to go outside in the light, which lead to a rather annoying tailing by a certain fire demon.   
  
There was a stream only minutes (in the smaller one's case, seconds) from the shelter. It was no sizable thing, nor was it breathtakingly beautiful. It was a creek; a simple bubbling stream of water that ran haphazardly through a network of rocks to relax in a shallow pool before joining with a larger companion stream a few minutes down. There was mud against one bank in the more stagnant area of water and insects swarmed in it. The other side was laced heavily with reeds. The fact that it was fresh water was enough for Kurama.   
  
Sitting sideways on one hip, the fox graciously scooped the cool shimmering liquid into a bowl and greedily downed it. After the drinking of his antitoxin, the water was twice as delicious. To his right, Hiei stood upon the rocks above the pool, gazing in some obscure and far off direction. Hoping that the youkai would not catch the action, the redhead dipped his fingers into the cool and pressed their dampness against the burning mark of his neck.   
  
Under his fingers, the wound reminded him of the horrible, rotting one in his dream and Kurama blanched at the thought. The mark repulsed him; he could feel the impressions of his attackers teeth in the bruise still, feel where his blood had been drawn.   
  
It was the damned blood that made the bond so difficult to break. Laws stated that one must obey the blood-drawer and the blood-letter could not oppose until he himself drew his mate's life from them. Until Kurama returned the mark, he would not have any right to refuse Tsurenai; he had given his defeat to the kitsune and the lech was now his master.   
  
The concept was almost too revolting for him and suddenly Kurama felt immensely better that Hiei had not noticed or mentioned the scar. Even if it were already noticed, as soon as the fire demon spoke of it, Tsurenai would find himself dead in a matter of hours… and without a mutual bond; Kurama would be in danger himself. Damn demon laws of loyalty.   
  
The redhead was distracted by movement at the top of the small rock formation above the pool and heard a quick swish and plunk into the water. The glass surface rippled as whatever had pierced it disappeared beyond the illusion-like surface. Green eyes focused on the maker of the disturbance; Hiei was poised a bit oddly, as if he had just fallen slightly forward and caught himself. The fire demon's bare arm fell down to his side from where it had been out before him and his red eyes flashed expectantly at the water.   
  
It took only a second for Kurama to see it; a fat, pink fish rose to the surface of the pool where it bobbed awkwardly. Hiei's sword stuck out of both sides, neatly skewering it.   
  
"Dinner." The fire demon darted down to the opposite bank of the pond, reaching out to grasp his sword and lift it out; fish and all. It gave a flop and shuttered on the cold metal that had pierced it and a large, oval mouth gaped in dumb surprise. Kurama felt the need to see that look on another's face.   
  
_-Soon. Wait a while longer.-_ Youko whispered behind his ears. -_You must gain strength._-  
  
The redhead fretted with his hands, stroking the stolen silk in his fingers. This situation was difficult; Hiei must stay out of the kitsunes' bonding. Mutual demon mates were fiercely loyal and absolutely devoted in the time of marking. After the mark faded, often so did the relationship… but even though the wound on his neck would heal, the stain would still linger for some time. Perhaps even years. Kurama's mind had not been willing, but his body had… that was all the binding needed. Until he broke it or the mark faded; he was Tsurenai's.   
  
The kitsune stared into the water, thinking desperately. Marks were a blood contract and could not be broken by an outside force, even in death. That was what made this so very dangerous. If Hiei discovered that Kurama had been bitten, he would think that it was forced… thus void, and destroy Tsurenai. One mate can not survive without the other; if the fire demon killed Tsurenai, he would kill Kurama.   
  
There was one way out of this: he would have to kill Tsurenai himself. If their mutual blood was spilt by one of the pair… Kurama could live. Maybe.   
  
A groan swelled in his throat and he pressed one thin, scratched hand to his cheekbones. But in order to have such power over the auburn one, Kurama would need to return the mark… a near revolting task to contemplate.   
  
And yet, there was another catch… Hiei himself. Youko had said the truth; Tsurenai Fuyukasi was a collector. Despite the bragging rights with Kurama, Hiei was quite the prize. If the fire demon did attack Tsurenai, the dark kitsune would threaten the smaller youkai with Kurama's life.   
  
_Hiei would give nothing up for me._   
  
He felt the Youko's voice grow slightly optimistic. -_He might; why would he be caught in that situation unless he was willing to? But, if not; he would not leave Tsurenai unpunished.-_   
  
Kurama pushed his fingers into his hair, flipping the blood-colored bangs away from his face. _Then what can I do? If Hiei goes to wreak my own revenge… he could kill me. A broken mate cannot live… Could I tell him of the binding?_   
  
A vision of the Youko flickered on the back of his eyelids. -_It is better now to wait. You must make this a matter of pride and claim it is your right to undo this catastrophe… then your demon will not interfere.-_   
  
The redhead furrowed his brows and let his head fall forward in a nod. This was a horrible situation. He would have to hold Hiei off long enough to do the job himself. Although the fire demon was not one to break into Kurama's business, he had become involved the moment the wounded kitsune cried out to him. Now that he was entwined within the web, it would be hard to untangle.   
  
It was too much to swallow now, and other things acquired attention. The redhead wobbled awkwardly as he stood, the weak ankle quailing under his weight, but only for a second. His movement did not go unnoticed by the fire demon, and Hiei eyed him from where he sat upon the stone bank. The fish lay, unskewered at his feet, flopping noisily.   
  
As Kurama turned to look for a place of privacy, he heard the gentle tap of boots on the shore to his left. Hiei had leapt the water and looked sideways at him, waiting for the fox to move. The redhead ignored it and began to walk down to the small outcropping to find a decent spot. The darker youkai tailed.   
  
If his situation hadn't been so urgent, Kurama would have been amused at his keeper, but now he was mildly annoyed.   
  
"Hiei…" he muttered, giving the demon a look, "you don't need to follow me."   
  
"Hn…" was the only reply he received. Kurama took a few steps, hoping that the youkai would catch on, but Hiei was a bit of a blind lookout when it came to the obvious.   
  
"No really." Kurama sighed when he saw a decent bush a few steps away. His babysitter ignored him.   
  
"What are you even doing?"   
  
The kitsune faked a smile and began to rock back and forth in discomfort. "I'm _trying_ to go to the bathroom!"   
  
The look on Hiei's face caused the faux grin to become real and the youkai changed expressions from slight surprise to dull irritation. "Stupid fox, why didn't you just tell me that?!"   
  
"What did you think I was doing?" Kurama laughed as he spoke, the action not helping his bladder.   
  
"I don't know…" the dark youkai turned back to the pool, trying to recover from his mistake, "fox things… sneaking…" Hiei's voice turned to a mutter and he darted back to deal with his abandoned fish, ignoring the chuckle coming from Kurama.   
  


**. . .**

  
  
The water was cold, but good to wash his sore hands in. Hiei stabbed experimentally at the fish, reveling in the dumb thing's fear. Kurama looked to the water instead of the scene, seeing the blue reflection of the sky above. He was pleased that it was not red or purple, as the sky often became. The stand of bamboo that enclosed Hiei's shelter extended into a small forest down the stream's bank and rustled to his back, whispering in the wind. The fox listened to the stalks discuss amongst themselves when he heard it.   
  
The forest was _literally_ talking. When the wind forced it's way along the lean posts, the leaves spoke, their voices mirroring one he had grown to loathe.   
  
_-Healthy now Youko?-_ Kurama's eyes widened as he felt the small breeze push to his back. Blood began to rush faster and he grew hot in rage at the sound of Tsurenai. _–Have you nursed your wounds half-blood?-_   
  
"Vermin." Kurama seethed. He knew he shouldn't have the second he did. Hiei's stoic face looked across at him from where he now took to cleaning the fish, curiosity shining in ruby irises as the half gutted animal wriggled in his grasp. The kitsune coughed lightly, ducking his head further and avoiding the glance. Inwardly, he boiled in rage as Tsurenai's call continued in his ears.   
  
_-I wish to see you. Your cries always brighten up this dank wood.-_ Kurama's face contorted in a scowl. Fisted hands, lying on his lap, began to tremble as his own soft nails dug deep into the heel of his palm. _– I cannot wait for long for you. Know now that you have no choice in this. You bear my mark Youko.-_ The breeze pulled at Kurama's hair, throwing the long tresses away from his shamed head. The purpled bruise stood out like a splatter of ink upon clean paper. He shuddered as the wind touched it's cold fingers to it and rose a hand to protect himself. _-You have one day. Come to me.-_ The wind fled, but it's command lay strong.   
  
Kurama shook in anger and felt his heart sink. So, that was the plan; Tsurenai would not give him the time he desperately needed. The auburn one knew that he was still without enough energy to prove a challenging fight… and by calling Kurama to him in intervals would prevent that from ever happening.   
  
Across the small pond where he knelt, Hiei swung his sword down hard, finally decapitating the writhing fish. It's pink pearled body twitched once in reaction and then stilled as the crimson of its blood began to pool around it on the rock.   
  


**. . .**

  
  
Not much time had passed when Kurama decided a very unusual thing for him; he wanted to go inside. He felt uncomfortable now, as if endangered by the open space and the unfamiliar territory. For once, he would rather be away from the vast sky and sharp air. It felt as though a thousand eyes were drilling into him as he stood to leave, when in reality, only three were.   
  
Hiei waited a moment to make sure that he would not make the former mistake by following Kurama when it was not needed, but when the kitsune turned down the path that lead to the shelter, he faithfully darted afterward. A scowl pulled at the fire demon's lips as he felt the discomfort radiating off his companion. It took something strong to make a kitsune uneasy in his own element.   
  
The trail was not a difficult one but it wound oddly around through the stand of bamboo. Tall, swaying stalks towered up to twenty-five feet above his head, their branches blocking nearly all of the light from the day and tainting the remainder a green hue. Oddly enough, his patterned shirt mirrored them to an art.   
  
As Kurama traced the trail, he tried to see if he could command the plants to obey him. At his request, a few bowed in his passing, but did not knot around each other like he had asked. Kurama's ki was there, but by no means strong. He cursed it. He was absolutely helpless to the darker fox. There must be another way to beat him…   
  
Tsurenai was not as physically strong as Youko… nor did he have the control that the silver fox had over violent plants. The darker kitsune only excelled in one thing; toxic plants, thus he relied on one thing… paralysis and inebriation. Kurama needed to figure out a way to avoid being poisoned. The plant was a sedative that drained his energy enough to make him helpless. It was like a spider's bite.   
  
_Where's a giant rolled up newspaper when you need it?_ He joked, trying to lighten his own spirit, but failing. Green eyes darkened in severity. _There's got to be something…_   
  
Kurama's concentration was broken as a shadow darted over his head, bounding between the strong stalks on opposite sides of the path. It stopped merely meters ahead and waited, perching in the canopy, for him to pass under it again.   
  
"I'm not going to be kidnapped Hiei." The redhead tiredly called as he strolled calmly under the crouched shadow. Even now when he walked it caused considerable pain, so he kept the pace slow.   
  
There was the heavy sound of Hiei hitting the ground by him, and the smaller figure hovered only a few steps behind him in his stride. "You can't say that." The Jaganshi carried his sword over his shoulder, the blade stuck with pieces of white fish flesh. "You don't have your ki fully returned." Rusted brows knitted in response to the comment, but the darker one ignored it. "Besides, I'm not worried about you being carried off."   
  
Focusing his eyes on the gleaming tops of the swaying stalks and long chute leaves, the kitsune watched the far-above canopy light. "What are you worried of then?"   
  
There was a pause of silence and Hiei moved next to Kurama on the trail, walking slow enough not to challenge the fox's reasoned pace. The youkai's tacit nature was eradicated with his statement. "I'm concerned about you going off to Koshokuki."   
  
Kurama did not falter but did bring his eyes back down to the trail to make sure it would not happen. "I don't know what you mean."   
  
"I heard it," the fire youkai side-glanced the taller one quickly, catching the wince that passed over his visage, "back there…"   
  
"You're imagining things." The redhead blinked calmly, secretly praying for him just to have misheard the statement. If Hiei knew…   
  
But the smaller demon did know. "Am I?" A purple oval glowed under it's wrapping, insulted at the idea that a Jagan would ever miss something like that.   
  
Kurama felt a small amount of panic rise in him, and he shook his head. "Hiei…" the voice was pleading on the edge of irritation, an odd combination, "just leave it be."   
  
"Fine." The youkai rolled his shoulders, as if their conversation was really nothing important. "Consider it unspeakable."   
  
Kurama let one shaky sigh pass his lips, not caring if Hiei heard it or not. So… he knew about it. Now he would need to convince Hiei that this was his fight, this was his problem. He needed to keep the youkai away from Tsurenai and the bond. The kitsune felt his legs quiver once as he stepped and he became angered at it; if he was not truly physically exhausted, he was mentally.   
  
Perhaps it was the combination that got him and despite how he avoided the stones and roots in his path, the enormous wound in his ankle stung under his weight. Finally, it did what it, and every piece of him, had wanted to ever since Kurama stood; it collapsed.   
  
It felt as though his stomach had dropped when he fell and the roll of pain that surged up his leg, nauseated him. Kurama let a small cry pass his lips in the surprise of it and stumbled, reaching out to clutch to a bamboo chute. The redhead looked down to see his foot hanging limply at the injured joint. Perhaps the thorn had punctured a tendon. If that was the case then the kitsune was condemned to damage in that foot for a long time… and without the use of his ki, permanently.   
  
His vision was obscured by a bristly black-haired head that ducked under his arm. Hiei's narrow shoulders offered themselves as support for the lame leg. But because the fire youkai was so short he was more use as a cane.   
  
Kurama did not like the idea of using Hiei like this, but the smaller one seemed to not even notice as they worked their way along. The fish blade was held out in front of them slightly, the meat dripping. Ahead, the trail was coming to an end. The fox looked blandly on, the dull hope of faux safety coming into him. It was then, undetected, that Hiei turned enough to see it; the mark on Kurama's neck. For a moment he simply stared at the thing… a bite mark, just like he thought. The fragments of words we had heard at the pool stuck to him, and the darker youkai knew immediately.   
  
Someone owned Kurama.   
  
He knew what needed to be done… The fire demon drew his eyes away, trying not to tighten the grip he had on his sword on impulse. Instead, he reached to the pocket of his pants, feeling the bag of herbs he had collected earlier that day. Red eyes focused on the fish meat dripping on his blade as the shelter came into view.   
  
He would need to spice up that night's fillets with a new sort of seasoning.   
  
.  
  


**Section II to Come…**

  
  
_-Green Bird_


	4. A Lover's Fire Section II

Title: Stain  
Show: Yu Yu Hakusho  
Pairing: OC/Kurama, HieiKurama  
Author: Green Bird  
Disclaimer: I don't own this. You know I don't own this.  
Rating: **R** (pushing it, but I still believe that it's R or 16 material)  
Note: Yay! Violence and romance! Bite me! Bite him! I don't know. God I'm tired.  
**Part Three, Section Two Notes:** Ah… Killing Time. Mmmm… battle scenes are a rare treat for me and this one I enjoyed greatly. I hope you do as well. A walk-in scene on this one. Forgive it. It would be good to look over Section I before this toyou're your bearings… but you can survive without I guess. Hopefully everything is to your taste, so read on… as promised: the last of Stain.

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**Stain**  
Part Three: A Lover's Fire  
  
_Section II_

  
  
.  
  
Cooking fish was normally not an unpleasant smell, but to his tense stomach it was a strain and pushed Kurama to the verge of nausea. It was not as if he didn't need food; the fox's stomach was complaining loudly in its loneliness, but that his mood had tightened him up so much that the concept of swallowing anything was unattractive.  
  
Hiei didn't seem to be paying attention to him from across the cooking fire where he had become the self-appointed chef for the two of them. However, there was nothing gourmet about the meal… just two fillets of the pink fish and a few oddly shaped fruits that Kurama had deemed edible.  
  
Plates were a far-off concept and the fire demon made due with two rather thin disk-shaped rocks. The steaming meat was laid out on them; browned at the edges where the fire had touched it. The food was redolent and speckled with several different wild spices to give the normally bland dish some more life.  
  
Kurama gently took his designated rock into his lap, looking down on the hot food. It needed a chance to cool, as did his nerves before he attempted to eat it. Breathing deep and feeling his lungs swell painfully under his tight chest, the kitsune decided to bring up the unspeakable subject.  
  
_-Let him know it is your burden; make it safe for us. We will worry about the dog after we have dealt with our keeper.- _Youko urged him on, and he spoke with confidence.  
  
"Hiei, I appreciate this all greatly, you are truly a good friend to care for me so, but I have to tell you this…" across the fire the addressed demon looked up, face stoic and bland to the words. Kurama lowered his voice and spoke more firmly; "This business with Tsurenai is mine and mine alone."  
  
Two crimson irises stared across at him poignantly and Kurama waited for a reply of some form. None came. An awkward silence stretched between them and the kitsune turned down and away to his food, deciding that that alone was enough for now.  
  
Poking at the still scalding meat and slowly dishing some into his mouth, something irked the back of his mind; how was he going to manage this alone? As of this moment, he was no match to the auburn one. In full power, yes, he could rend Tsurenai limb from limb… but the fox was never going to allow Kurama that chance. He would be forever weakened and thus forever enslaved… like a bird with cut pinions.  
  
The loathed voice passed through his head, part of that night flickering in his mind. -_-"So weak. Too weak to even protect yourself"--_  
  
Kurama scowled. _Yes, and now I am too weak to erase you._ He needed more time!  
  
Just then, the fox felt something else in his mind; an alien power. It was small and careful, darting around invasively in his head. For a second he was confused as to what it possibly was, but then became aware of the three eyes that had never left him.  
  
"Stop it Hiei." The power flickered and retreated from his mind as the fire youkai scowled at his own capture. Kurama looked moodily across to him, not liking the concept of being read by the Jagan so easily. "I want you to stay out of it."  
  
"You cannot always get what you wish." The demon stated, never breaking the look he had held the entire time. He had already decided… long ago…  
  
Kurama suddenly felt very hungry in his frustration and forced another bite down. "You do not know what you are getting into. This is my fight."  
  
"I am already in it; I was the main cause." The fire demon shifted slightly, watching as the fox ate and growing more daring with every bite.  
  
The kitsune stiffened at the statement, finding the truth in it disturbing. "You have never interfered before."  
  
Hiei's reply was simple; "You have never needed it."  
  
Verdant eyes thinned in speculation, trying to find a way to dissuade the youkai from any more of his notions. "Weren't you one to say that your life was your own to care for?"  
  
"There are exceptions to every rule." Small shoulders rolled in expression, but stopped when the severity of the next statement came into play upon the fire demon. "Your battles will be mine."  
  
The redhead quirked an eyebrow slightly. "When did we make this decision?"  
  
"It is my lone decision."  
  
Kurama would have been flattered and mostly shocked at that statement if the situation was less dire. "Hiei… I'm pleading with you to stay out of this." He set the rock plate down and watched as Hiei's eyes flickered to look at the half eaten meal. "I do not want you involved. You fight your own fights and I'll fight mine."  
  
"I know you want revenge…" The fire youkai suddenly stood, looking down on his red-haired companion. "You deserve it, but this is my task and I will take it."  
  
"You don't understand!" Kurama fought to stand, feeling his legs quake. There was anger and desperation in his voice; Hiei did not know what he was getting into! "You cannot do this: I must!"  
  
"Yet you cannot." The fire youkai's eyes glimmered hotly across at the staggering kitsune, watching as the fox teetered and his ki spiked. The Youko was growing angry inside of Kurama and it showed in his eyes; this was more than a simple fit of pique. Hiei did not care about the opinions or technicality of it. He did not even care that he promised to never let emotion lead him into something; he had done it once for Yukina, he could admit that. He would do it again for Kurama. He would do it countless times…  
  
"I will be able to! I must!" The kitsune's eyes flashed as he watched Hiei shift his weight yet again. He wouldn't really just bolt out right now would he? "This is deeper than you think."  
  
"Is it deeper than he sunk his teeth?" The youkai muttered. "Or is it about as deep as he pierced you? Is it as deep as that?" Hiei's body hardened and his garnet iris's shifted over to glare at the mark hidden under a thin veil of hair. "Do not think that I don't know what that is Kurama. That is your manacle."  
  
"And you think you can break my chains?"  
  
Light boomed out from the campfire as the youkai's uprising energy vaulted at the challenging statement. "Can you?" He whispered in an acidic tone. Hiei moved away then, darting to the shadowed door and pausing in it. Already it had grown dark outside and the feeling of it seeped deep within the room.  
  
Kurama felt a panic erupt in him. "Stay here. Don't do this. You don't understand!" It was hardly a statement, but more of a plea.  
  
"I do understand." The youkai spoke in the softer tone he had used in the morning, surprising the fox with it.  
  
"Stay." He repeated as his wobbling legs pushed forward, but they were too slow for the youkai who moved further out the door.  
  
Hiei shook his head once in refusal "Trust me with this." In a blur, the demon disappeared to the outside.  
  
When the black shape of his companion dissolved, the redhead cried out desperately and tried to give chase. His feet became lead as he fell heavily down. Against the compact earth Kurama struggled clumsily, horrified with the sluggishness of his limbs… what was wrong with him? Fire blazed in the fox's vision and an unusual smell filled his head.  
  
Then it came back to him… that smell! The scent the fish had given off when cooked! How the smoke of it had made him sick… It had smelled that way due to the herbs that Hiei had tainted the meat with…  
  
Frantically, Kurama tore open the small leather pouch near him that the youkai had carried those herbs in. When he saw the sprig that tumbled out his heart gave a seizure of horror. Those distinctive leaves, that woody branch, the potent smell when burned; Nezasso.  
  
_He drugged me…_ A feeling of betrayal rushed him as he reeled under the effects. Subdued once by an enemy, now by a friend. _And now he'll fall into the same trap as I…_  
  
The kitsune struggled to stand again, but his head spun and became numb, one last thought, this one frightening, boomed through his head.  
  
_You'll kill me Hiei…_  
  
Giving a final moan of panic and outrage, Kurama was swallowed by the effects of the most potent sleep-inducer in the Makai and crumpled to the floor, utterly comatose.  
  


**. . .**

  
  
From where he had finally halted in the trees, Hiei faced the forbidding wall of trunks that began Koshokuki and watched. He did not want to try to hunt the malign demon out in its own territory, even though his Jagan could pinpoint him from even this distance. It was better to use bait for such a task. Let the letch show himself.  
  
He knew it wouldn't be long until some youkai attempted to map their way through the forest. Most often they could without problem… but the rare few did not come out, and those few were often quite the endangered demon.  
  
Fools are everywhere, and one happened to be trotting along the path that wound its way into the wood that very moment. It was a common looking youkai with tinted skin and sharp features… but it was smaller, rounder; female. Two useless wings were folded upon its back, ivy colored feathers poking out in odd ways. The fire demon's ears twitched as he heard it hum to itself and he rolled his eyes… an utatori.  
  
She would have to do… the demoness was not a stunning creature, so the chances that the fox would attempt to capture her were thinned, but she looked weak and easily tricked. Perhaps the demon would simply try to feed her to his trees. As Hiei began to follow, the feathered thing started to whistle liltingly under the trees, obviously trying to comfort itself by filling the silence. The youkai smirked. Of course the dirty zealot would go for her; a fox of any form could never resist a pass at a foolish bird.  
  
It was surprising how the path in the forest was worn into the ground, considering how few traveled this road willingly. If he had cared to look the demon could have seen that the forest itself was not an ugly place as areas infested with foul creatures so often found themselves, but rather strong and beautiful. The black barked trees were enormous in girth and sprouted countless arms upward. Nearly all were draped with necklaces of frond and flora and clustered around with odd patches of fern and blossoming scrub.  
  
In fact, this environment angered the youkai more than it pleased him. The overgrowth of plants hindered his steps some, and it brought an alarm up into his mind to constantly watch his footing. The enemy was indeed all around and he felt an excitement rise in him. The hunt was a delicious thing.  
  
There was nothing more thrilling to his demon nature than this… tracking down another for disposal. Only the fight itself would slake the hunger in his being for the blood of this fox. Everything was felt tenfold. Smells were potent and fierce, noise; a roar in this head and every movement, every twitch of the predatory forest around him was engraved to his eyes.  
  
Hot ashes fell down to his shoulders as the Jagan burnt away at its covering, the harsh purple light glowing through his spiked bangs. It was hard to suppress his energy, for it writhed in him like the Kokuryuuha did, anxious to be vented in a flash of black fire and acrid smoke.  
  
_Careful. Quiet._ He cautioned himself. If this monster detected him, or his pet trees recognized the one who had struck out at them, the fox could close off the entire forest with a simple command. What was to be done needed to be finished in time before Kurama awoke.  
  
Kurama. Hiei's mind calmed at the thought of the companion that he had left so quickly. No doubt the half-ningen would be beyond angry when the Nezasso wore off and then give chase, even under his condition. The youkai scowled as he traced the voyage of his bait in the tree's canopy. Kurama was no weakling, but due to his half-blood, his body was more vulnerable in the end. Yes, the Youko could deal with himself, but not now.  
  
It was his turn now.  
  
It was a rare thing to him, to feel that he had a duty for something. Normally he would just ignore this and the feeling would go away. But this was something that would not fade in time. This was bringing pain unto a friend… and although Kurama seemed dire to keep it for himself, something else pushed the youkai into this action.  
  
Something had been taken from him.  
  
He must get it back.  
  
The Jagan interrupted his musing with a light pulse, stopping him and forcing ruby eyes down to the green female demon on the forest floor below. The utatori had halted in the center of the path, body alert to something to the side of the trail. The mess mixture of hair and feathers that adorned her head rustled as she turned to gaze into the forest's bowls, large grey eyes shining in curiosity. There was no sound from the trees and it seemed that the whole wood had become deaf to itself. Tension wound itself painfully tight in the air as everything waited on the small demoness's reaction.  
  
A sudden, loud chirp of glee shattered it all and slightly startled Hiei in his perch. The utatori fluttered her two useless wings in a sort of pleased gesture and it bounded into the shadow of the trees.  
  
The fire youkai set his face, so soon in the game and the bait was already being drawn in. Foolish, stupid thing that bird demon was. Had it no sense? What had drawn it in? Even his Jagan hadn't sensed any invitations amongst the trees.  
  
Drawn down by the continuing chirping of the female, Hiei dropped to the other side of the trail and peered across into the hollow she had fled. He snorted at the sight.  
  
The utatori was chittering happily to herself as she pranced around the base of a tree, its branches laden heavily with ripe, red fruit. The large berries glimmered enticingly in even the dim light and the silly youkai struggled to reach one.  
  
How horribly ironic. His prey was baiting the bait.  
  
It seemed almost humorous, the way that the tree acted against the hungry bird demon, lifting its branches just a little further than the now jumping female's reach. Hiei could hear the little green thing cuss at each miss, growing more desperate for the tempting fruit with every pass. In sudden movement, the tree flicked one long arm, sending a particularly good looking edible flying deeper into the forest. The utatori squawked in alarm and clamored after it, chasing the red victual as it tumbled down the shallow grade and into the very heart of the wood.  
  
Hiei did not wait a second to follow her retreating figure. The bird was a clumsy thing, blindly chasing the fruit as it rolled down into darker, thicker growth. In a few leaps Hiei found that a mist had crept its way onto the forest floor and the temperature was chilling. They were very near the lair itself; he could smell the rank thing in the musky air. An odd sense of dread filled him as he saw the feathered demon finally catch grip of the soft husk of its prize and lift it to his mouth. How idiotic was this thing?  
  
"Drop that." He snapped to its back, being only a few steps from it now.  
  
The bird went ridged at his command and the fruit plummeted to the ground where it exploded with a lush, disgusting sound. As he expected, the smell it gave off was acidic and foul.  
  
Toxic.  
  
In a flurry of alarmed demon, the utatori spun about, large eyes quivering in fear at being encroached.  
  
Hiei glared hard at it. "Get out of here, go the way you came." He growled, trying to look fierce as to convince it fully. "This is a dangerous place. Follow the river downstream and go around."  
  
"Ah… who?" The green feathered youkai queried, blinking at her stalker in wonderment. Fear was being replaced with confusion at the sight of the small, dark demon. At her question it seemed to grow enraged. Around them, the trees rustled in apprehension.  
  
"Foolish bird! Get out of here!" Hiei felt the encroaching ki growing dense around them. He wanted the demoness out of his way! Little fangs were bared in frustration at her stationary placement. "A fox is coming!"  
  
That was really all he needed to say. The utatori's eyes widened further and she nodded before frantically tearing up the small hill and back to the path. Hiei heard her crashing and squawking frantically as the trees attempted to catch her on her way out, but the plants did so half-heartedly, as something far interesting had set itself right in the middle of them, no luring needed.  
  
After the utatori's fleeing steps grew too faint, Hiei stood in the darkness of the forest's heart, waiting for the monster to rear its head. He felt it all around him, his senses were on fire with it as the fox's foul intentions permeated his being.  
  
"Mongrel creature…" He seethed, tensing his body up in preparation of an attack. At any second the plants around him could turn savage and attempt to rend him limb from limb.  
  
But nothing did happen… the thick air remained unmoving while silence covered the area. Hiei inhaled deeply, only to receive the same smell as before… mold and earth, the bite of the toxic fruit and the dangerous animalistic musk of the kitsune. Something in him pushed his steps forward, moving deeper in through the trees. Above his eyes the Jagan pulsed in warning; the power was all around him… but no where in particular. At least, not until it wanted to be.  
  
When the stench hit him, so did the pinpoint. A rancid smell, like decaying flesh, wafted out to him as he felt the youkai's presence. Two burning red eyes glared into the shadow of a tree to see it there.  
  
The kitsune was walking leisurely, as if it was alone. His tail swung around behind him as he seemed to float, feet barely touching the ground. Hiei pulled his lips back in a sort of snarl as he saw it, this graceful monster, uncaring and calm.  
  
Into the light Tsurenai traipsed, setting his cold eyes onto his intruder. Perfect lips pierced as the youkai ticked in scorn at Hiei, shaking his head and letting his curled tresses wave as he did.  
  
"Tsk tsk. How rude you are. Your interference made me loose my bird." The kitsune stopped walking and stood placidly, thin body tilting and long arms hanging down by his sides. The fox grinned. "I do love birds. I have a collection."  
  
As he said it the trees shifted to show exactly what Tsurenai meant. On the branches far above them, long bare of leaves, were several rotting, impaled bodies. Each one adorned with feathers and bird-like characteristics, each one with a look of horror and pain iced onto their decaying faces.  
  
"And I was so eager to add another." The false pout in the monster's voice irritated Hiei, who was already fighting back the spots of rage in his eyes. His prey stood before him and he was more than ready to end it now. This collector demon, this one who strung up corpses like ningen Christmas lights, this creature who had the gall to enslave the powerful Youko Kurama was an ugly scar of a beast, even for the Makai.  
  
"You'll never add another." The Jagan blazed angrily in his forehead and the burn of it near blinded him.  
  
Even if the fire demon was raring to attack, Tsurenai did not pay attention to it. He was not stupid to the power of this one; it sent shivers down his spine to even stand near the small dark thing, but there was a time for everything and he knew that the youkai would not rush him just yet. As icy eyes traced the compact figure with the glinting Jagan, the kitsune smiled to himself. Yes, yet another beautiful prey.  
  
Dangerous prey. But all the better.  
  
"I am the luckiest of hunters." He chorused, nearly laughing. "I track down and mark a radiant and clever kitsune and now I am visited by the damnation himself! What a pretty rarity you are." The fox's weight shifted as one tanned hand gestured to Hiei. "A Jaganshi… A koorime and even a fire demon. You are truly reason enough to have taken him." At the statement the youkai growled, but the kitsune took no notice and continued to speak. "It's a pity he was in human form, Youko was a radiant thing, but one cannot say that his ningen body is not pleasing." A chuckle passed through the lithe body as it remembered the happenings of the previous night. "Why, those wide, ivy eyes, that burning hair mixed with the crimson of his blood… all against such pale skin… it was beautiful."  
  
Tsurenai sighed happily, as if the memories were joyous ones in his mind. As he did, something red revealed itself in one long hand. He held it up for show.  
  
It was a lock of Kurama's hair.  
  
"A souvenir." The fox whispered, declining his head and gazing up through his twisted rivulets. "I could not help myself Jaganshi… you see, I heard all about him through the Skulk. [_Group of foxes_] All the kitsune marveled at his survival, and now at his success. With titles like that strolling through my living room… I could not resist."  
  
Hiei scowled, trying hard to prevent his right arm from shaking in rage. Just as he thought, Kurama was nothing but a trophy for this ancient creature. After a second's silence, he snorted at the fox. "Your obsession with him is disgraceful." Tsurenai's eyebrow ticked when he heard it. The fire demon continued on. "Pine for something that you can actually have. Youko is too much for you."  
  
The grin grew on the fox's face. "At least I was brave enough to make him my own. Your lollygagging has cost you."  
  
Hiei moved fast, drawing out his katana in a flash, but the fox was aware of the move at the first twitch of muscle. A massive tree literally threw itself in the way of the fire demon, branches coming in at all sides in an attempt to envelope him. The youkai evaded the large thing easily, but found when he struck out that the blade only scored the dark colored bark. These were not average trees…  
  
"They are older than you could imagine; I planted these when I was a kit. These are not meager saplings!" There was no joke to that, even with all of his physical power behind the diamond-edged blade, he could hardly get to the flesh of the old plants. It was not just their age that aided them, but Tsurenai himself. The demon looked physically weak, but his pets were not.  
  
The fire youkai swore as he darted around it, deciding to hone in on the source itself, but when he got to where Tsurenai stood he found that the monster was caged. The fox's pets' roots had wormed their way up from under the ground to form a sort of bird cage about him.  
  
Angrily, Hiei swiped at the side, aligning his blade so that it could take off the letch's head. He had no such luck. The air was disturbed by a dull clang as the metal was reflected off of the cage, the only sign of the strike being the few wood chips that fell onto Tsurenai's shoulder. Through the meshed wood, Hiei saw the demon grin at him, one eye winking softly at the move. The gesture made him draw his sword back in preparation to stab through the holes in the cage and straight into that flirtatious eye, but the movement cost to much time.  
  
One of the many defending trees arched a branch down too close and brushed the fire demon's shoulder. In a puff of dark smoke he was gone, falling back away from the hulking shape that waved blindly in defense of its master.  
  
However, Hiei was not at all pleased when his foot hit the ground. Instead of landing on solid earth, his weight fell onto a swarming mass of plant life. Vines had netted themselves over every centimeter of the forest floor, twitching and slithering in thousands of directions. As his boot hit the sensitive plants, they flew upward, set to snare him. Snarling, Hiei hacked at the worming things, easily severing them and jumping upward.  
  
…Where he was met with swinging branches decorated with rotting bodies.  
  
Darting about, trying to find any surface that wouldn't throw him, Hiei was irritated with the truth of him being utterly surrounded. The vines and trees could do little to no damage, but they were horribly annoying and a good defense. Red eyes focused on Tsurenai who was hungrily watching his every move in obvious glee. In his rapid leaping, absconding off of tree trunks and any area of ground that would take him, he heard the caged fox laugh.  
  
"You cannot hover and have no safe place to land." Acting as if he were getting bored with watching the frantic and random movement of his company, the auburn one instead studied his perfected nails, smirking when he remembered the marks they made on pallid skin. "You know, I could just wear you out like this… but I think that would take too long." The cold eyes looked up through the heavy hair. "Plus, I have other plans for you… You're small, only a drop is needed." Slender fingers that housed the perfected nails slipped against each other to make a quick snapping sound.  
  
At the moment of the command, Hiei was already near touching the ground. In a tangled, chaotic mess, hundreds of hungry tentacles flew up from their nests, poisoned spurs bared like snake fangs.  
  
That was enough.  
  
There was a flash of violet and black as the length of Hiei's sword erupted in flames. In two quick movements the vines beneath him fell to ash and an area was cleared. As if he would stop there. All he needed was the foothold. In a second he was gone again and when he reappeared, Tsurenai gasped in surprise.  
  
Standing atop the cage, Hiei raised his sword high above his head, crashing it down to cleave the net of roots in half. The force from the blow jettisoned his tiny body upward some as it sent the kitsune under it rocketing back and into the dirt.  
  
"You think you can pull that on me?" Hiei seethed, finally poised on the wreckage of the root cage after bounding back down. Tsurenai staggered to his feet some distance away.  
  
The fox was no longer amused. Covered in earth and grime, a pride-filled rage burned on his face, making the cold eyes thin. When the youkai spoke, it was a growl. "You're not the most difficult thing I've had to master."  
  
Hiei's mouth twitched, making the violent flames of his sword jump and curl around his arm. "You think you'd do the same to me… disgusting mutt…" The blade whirled in the air as he warmed up his wrists for an attack. Scowl turned into that sneering little sadistic grin he treasured using. "You love to use your demonhood so much… why don't I just cut it off?"  
  
A brown tail waved in irritation and the forest crawled around them, feeding off the foggy aura that Tsurenai was pushing out. Instead of working himself up further, the kitsune seemed to block the fire demon from his thoughts entirely, turning to look down at the ground.  
  
Near one bare foot a long, barbed stem had begun to grow. It wound itself up quickly, twisting like a dancer to an alien music. When it had reached it's full height, a large, pregnant bud tipped itself upward, ripe and ready to burst. Slowly, as the fog swam around it, it opened, revealing blood colored petals in a full, blossoming head. A rose.  
  
"Flowers are suicidal things." The dark fox whispered, bringing his hand down to stroke the velvet of the blossom. "They grow beautiful and vain with their colors and grace, they tip their shining faces to the heavens as if they deserve such praise from it." His fingers ran down the sides of it to stroke the stem. "It is only natural to pick them, for they ask for it with their beauty. They beg to have their necks snapped."  
  
Two deft fingers broke the flower away from it's body and Tsurenai held it up, twirling it for show. With a sigh, he ran the blossom over his cheek, letting his eyes gaze across at the flaming demon. "Your rose did this with his pretty, tragic face." A lecherous smile pulled at the monster's lips. "He was asking for it."  
  
"A rose will bite…" was the responding growl.  
  
"But if you know how to hold it, it will never pierce you." The fox demonstrated, holding the severed stem in a careful, hard grip. The flower suddenly grew slack in the kitsune's hold, aged under the demon's influence. "And once you take it, it wilts in your hand." Tsurenai spoke calmly, leveling their eyes. There was a sober seriousness in the look that transcended the entire careless mood the fox had radiated. "If you pluck him from me, he'll not last long."  
  
Hiei's bowed spine stiffened when hearing the change in the statement. What was the monster trying to hint at him? Kurama would die? But that meant…  
  
"You lie."  
  
"Then take him back." Tsurenai shrugged, tossing the dead rose to the ground, its brown petals wrinkling up. "Sever him from me and watch him fade in your grasp." Auburn curls waved as the now free hand tossed them away from the darkly perfected face. "Or if you like, make a trade for him."  
  
"I knew that was your way, but I'm not willing to trade myself..." Hiei let the unruly flame of the sword ravel up his arm; there was no need to summon Kokuryuuha fully when his own fire would do as he needed, "… for something that is mine."  
  
Tsurenai laughed loudly, the plants crawling insanely in response to his mood swing. "Youko Kurama is mine, of me. If you kill me, you kill him."  
  
"And what if I don't plan to kill you?" Blood eyes glowed as the fire seared into all of him, singeing the ground and making the creepers near his feet flee in fear of the terrible heat. "You see, I am not like Kurama… I _will_ torture you."  
  
A flash of light burst out as Hiei rushed forward, relishing the way that the fox's eyes widened as he came. As he brought his blade around for the slice, the fire youkai stopped dead, the white-hot steel only a short distance away from the opposing demon. Hiei became a dark blur as he darted around this kitsune, disappearing from his sight.  
  
Tsurenai turned sharply, trying to find out where the smaller had gone and was alarmed to find him standing back in his original position, the flame on his sword flickering and dying out. Hiei thinned his eyes and sneered.  
  
Four of the large, black-barked trees surrounding the fox crumbled, reduced to ash by the demon's quick cuts to their thick trunks. Acrid clouds of clogging soot rolled out all around them and through it Tsurenai screamed.  
  
"No!" For the first time he lost his composure, pearled fangs bared to the full as he stared at the remains of his pets. "My children!"  
  
"Valuables for valuables." Hiei disappeared again, intent on yet another stand of trees to the side, fire flashing in his swipes. The fox was not about to stand idle. Remaining trees, still numerous, thrashed violently out at the dark thing that darted in-between them. As the fire demon made his way, slipping past speeding branches and making a jagged path through the trunks, something disconnected itself from one of the giants and nearly hit him as it plummeted. Beneath him came the sickening sound of bones shattering.  
  
The trees were throwing Tsurenai's collection at him. Hiei pulled out mid-strike as one rancid body connected with his chest, having been flung at such a force that it shattered wetly against him, breaking into halves. He retreated from the area, fighting the bile that built as he tried to wipe off the rotting sludge that the fetid corpse had smeared upon him.  
  
Tsurenai laughed at the sight of it and let his defense slide into offence. As the Jaganshi used a few precious seconds to try to rid himself of the foul substance, the vines upon the ground lurched up in mass, constricting the demon's ankles to hold him in place. Hiei snarled and pushed his youki up to singe off the little terrors, but as he did he was surprised by a burning pain in his side. Looking down, the burn remnants of a plant fell away from him, but even though it was little more than ash he could still see the large sting that had caught him.  
  
"It's over." The fox announced. "You're finished."  
  
The fire youkai let the flame inhabit his sword again. "You think a little poison can keep me from you?" This attack he would have to target Tsurenai himself; time was now a factor.  
  
Not waiting for the rush that he scented would come, the auburn one bolted for the thickest part of his forest, fitting himself in amongst his children and out of direct harm. The smaller demon followed in a blink, hacking away at the outermost plants.  
  
They would not go without a fight. Black branches lashed out, releasing their razor-sharpened leaves in a torrent. Hiei found that the blades were too hard to dodge and pushed his fire out before him, disintegrating them. Other things heading his way were harder to deal with. The remainder of the fox's dead menagerie fell all around him, exploding on the ground with lush squelching noises or rattling as the old bones separated.  
  
As the trees began to crumble to ash, Hiei felt victory rising up in him, accompanied by another feeling. A feeling that turned in his head… spinning him fast. It was no gush of certainty… it was as Tsurenai had promised; poison. The fire demon slowed, stopping on the ground to try to clear the fog that had iced over his vision. As he blinked rapidly, the fox's laughing face was all his could see. Curling his lips in a snarl, Hiei rushed forward. Never mind the handicap; he must finish this. He must kill this monster. He must get back to Kurama. He had to make it back.  
  
Due to the sudden lethargy of its target, the tree found its mark much easier. Hiei was bowled over backward as the plant that he hadn't even seen smashed into him, sending him sprawling. Once he hit the ground, it was a task to stand upright again. Moving forward once more, little body now listing to the side, Hiei hardly made it a few steps before the tree shocked him back, further from its master.  
  
The kitsune smiled; his suicidal plant had done its job. Even though the venom was not enough to finish the annoying little demon, it was enough to slow him so that his trees could smash him like an insect. With a whisper Tsurenai called the attacks off and strolled closer, eyes intent on the vicious youkai that was trying desperately to pick itself up. Its savage red eyes caught him and tiny fangs were bore in animalistic menace. It was really too bad that this little one was too dangerous to keep… he would have liked such a wild rarity.  
  
As the fox moved closer, Hiei lifted his katana, ready to swing at the wretched thing if it neared him. Tsurenai knew it and stopped well away, cold eyes shining.  
  
"You're done Jaganshi. Wonderful fight you have, but now it's deadened. I admit you scared me… burning my forest like that." Hiei snarled at the calm fox, feeling he stomach rise in the need to vomit. It was not only his body that seemed to rebel from the poison, but his mind as well. All around him he could see tiny waifs of smoke rising from the crumpled bodies that littered the ground every few steps. Tsurenai seemed not to notice them at all… "Do not worry firefly, I will take good care of your rose."  
  
No… he still had to finish this task. He said he would take care of it. Damn this inebriation! His power was raring and ready but his body fought with the toxin in him. Curse those stupid little smoke threads… were they some kind of new weapon? Damn… they were everywhere.  
  
It was a surprise when he felt them rush past, ignoring him entirely. These were not Tsurenai's.  
  
They were spirits. Hundreds of demonic spirits. Apparently the fox's trees held more than just the menagerie's bodies on them.  
  
Wisps of the dead things thrashed in the air, creating whorls of smoke-like entity. Their fury was tangible; their longing of revenge against the beast that killed them overpowering. Into one massive tree they sprang, forcing the hard flesh of it to writhe under their influence. Hiei watched in a mesmerized surprise that the kitsune before him mistook as fear as the black shell of the tree reared up from behind, one sharp, twisted branch launching itself forward and straight to Tsurenai's back.  
  
The kitsune sensed the incoming projectile too late, his head turned to look behind just as the gigantic thorn drilled its way into his lower back. Vertebra crunched sickeningly as the lithe body arched from the force of the thick wooden spear that rammed its way through. The explosion of crimson that burst forth from the demon's stomach was revolting and thick; the tree's branch having pushed most of his abdomen out onto the ground before him.  
  
Hiei darted drunkenly out of the way as the branch and its victim flew past. There was a loud, heavy crack as the bloodied point of the stake collided with another tree, successfully trapping the kitsune in between them.  
  
As if pushed by a strong wind, the fog in the youkai's eyes fled. The poison's effect dampened at the damage to its maker, leaving Hiei only slightly dizzy. Only now, he was mostly shocked.  
  
A torrent of spirits emerged from the tree's husk, lashing about angrily in their harmless form, rushing at the fox's shadowed face. For a moment, Hiei puzzled if the demon was still alive. His doubt fled when lean legs began to spasm under the kitsune's suspended body. The youkai pushed himself forward; this was his job to finish.  
  
The souls knew it and separated as the Jaganshi neared the scene. Already the foul stench of blood and bowel had poisoned the air, making the already gruesome scene just a little less bearable. Hiei cared not. His internal fire for battle had reached its zenith, and now it soothed itself for the final stroke.  
  
.  
  
Two smaller, well-bound black boots became visible in his hazy red gaze. They perched themselves on the wet black bark before him, not slipping on the fluid that coated the branch. The fluid that had stunk something familiar… the fluid that was his. A graceful head lolled down to stare densely at the wood of a plant that protruded where his stomach should have been.  
  
Ah, then he remembered. There was no feeling in his legs… he could not even feel the gaping hole in his gut. If he had the ability to, he would have vomited at the thought of it.  
  
It was amazing that his lungs still functioned, and even more so that he could move his hand to touch the slippery bark that grew out of him. "My pets, my loves…" The kitsune whispered, angry tears rising in his frigid eyes, "what have you done?"  
  
A voice above him made his head roll back onto his slumped shoulders. So, those two boots had an owner: that little demon that had been so intent to steal his greatest prize. "You abuse your forest and litter it with vengeful dead…" Wisps of fog darted around him, making jabs with their body-less matter, "you are an insect to your children. A parasite in their midst."  
  
The last bit of him, the last shred of pride he had in him forced the final roll of energy. This fight was indeed over, but he would take his prize with him. From the tree he faced, the tree that had been stabbed into came one small, dangerous little plant. Worming its way past the black boots it rushed to the fox's hand.  
  
_-If I am their parasite, then let them be rid of me._ -With deadly affection, the thin little vine wound its way around a slender wrist. It's one, sharp thorn pressed in a killing kiss to the flesh and pushed far into the fox's blood.  
  
_-But this end I will not have alone…-_ Tsurenai sighed as the most potent of his making darkened his eyes. The youkai before him scowled, but waited. -_Come Youko…-_  
  
Hiei watched as the demon's breathing slowed and its mind lost consciousness. If that was how the monster wanted it, then he would at least wait until it believed it worked. The self-induced coma consumed the skewered demon, and the Jaganshi knelt on the blood-soaked branch, placing the blade of the katana against the fox's throat.  
  
For a moment, he looked at the comatose face of the dying youkai and felt his feeling of victory deflate to a mere buzz. Killing an already dead demon held no thrill. Even as foul as a beast this was…  
  
At that moment, Hiei decided that there would be no trace of this forest's existence when he left it. His youki rose in heat at the concept of burning the wretched place and this demon's corpse.  
  
It would have to be done fast; Kurama might indeed be in danger from this happening. This needed to end now. Fitting the burning steel in close against Tsurenai's throat, he thinned his eyes. "I am a good thief, but I do not enjoy being robbed."  
  
With one white-hot slice, the line was severed.  
  


**. . .**

  
  
There was that fire on his neck again, only now across it as well. Verdant irises shocked open to stare into burning embers and an animal-like panic surrounded all of Kurama. The scent of smoke filled his head, his lungs stung in the heat of it as a grey film veiled his sight. Fire. Fire all around him.  
  
Yet his body knew it wasn't. There was no roar of flames, no searing pain upon his legs and arms. The only pain that plagued him was that lingering sting on and over his throat, retreating back to its point on his neck.  
  
His hand flew to it, seeking to slake that agony any way it could, but found it resting upon the same source as always.  
  
Tsurenai's mark.  
  
It burned under his fingers, blistering and splitting, seeping blood and infection up from it to trickle down his chest and back. The mark had split wide, and his breath hitched in his chest as he tried to gasp.  
  
Something had happened…  
  
Kurama struggled against the ground, kicking his legs out and pushing him along the compact dirt floor, unknowing of where he was attempting to flee. It was the fox in him that drove the yelp from his mouth, that caused him to thrash so violently as if he had been snared.  
  
Youko sounded loudly in him, the kitsune in a borderline panic. Calm. Breathe. But he couldn't, something was smothering him, pushing down on him with a crushing ferocity, something that his lungs had no power to push off…  
  
_-Shuiichi, our mate is gone._ -  
  
Emerald eyes, slightly glazed in shock, widened further in his head when he became aware of what was happening.  
  
_-We're dying…_ -  
  
Dying… he had been so near this danger before, but this brush was close enough to feel the cold breath of it on his face. Darkness moved like a predator, long in wait to take him under.  
  
_No…_ The redhead lay flat on his back, his spore chest heaving as he fought to breathe. _I will not._ Kurama announced it to all of his being, pushing his body into action. _I will not go to him. I will not die for him._  
  
Air fought to return, pleasing his lungs with its slightest touch. Beside them, a palpitating heart tried to slow itself into a slight calm, working hard to push the life's blood steadily. By how he panted, Kurama was reminded of the beached fish.  
  
Despite the way he fought it off, death was a persistent seducer and it had wrapped its noose tight about his neck. Kurama reeled in his valiant fight, already tiring. His heart despaired; there was no chance, the bond had been too strong. Tsurenai would drag him into the afterlife with him.  
  
And then, he saw it; Death.  
  
The figure was dark and irksome, shadowed face looking down at him without expression. Before it, a hand was offered, ready to pull Kurama away from his struggling.  
  
_Not yet…_ The fox pleaded to the wraith. _I will survive this._  
  
Death, however, does not take requests and the shape contorted as it knelt next to him, its hot, hellish hands touching the fox's shoulder. Through the air he fought so hard to obtain, Kurama smelled the bite of fire and blood on it.  
  
A scuffling invaded his pained skull and Death was attempting to lift him, its smaller body seeming to be feeble and trembling with fatigue. Raw hands, covered in grime and soot, pawed at his arms, turning his body towards it. Kurama's spine curled itself upward compulsively, lifting him up as much as he could.  
  
He looked into Death's face, quite bloody and marred, and saw that Death had two beautiful garnet eyes. Death had black hair, interrupted by a stark white shock. Death possessed a glowing third eye.  
  
This was not his death that was holding him now at all… this was…  
  
_My life. You were my life._ A touch fell on his neck, painful against the wound that would kill him. _At least now you have freed me of him…_  
  
The touch did not lessen and Kurama's youkai pulled closer, eyes on his paling face. His small, normally frowning mouth opened to rasp into the fox's dimming ears. "Broken in half, none can survive. One mate cannot endure without the other." There was no pain as the kitsune's head was turned, the ugly scar now angled away. The space between them became smaller as burned arms enveloped him further. Kurama struggled to hold onto the dark one as well, his limbs weakened and slow.  
  
There was the surprisingly calming feeling of his hair being pulled away from his neck, the crimson strands falling loose behind his lolling head. Kurama's breath wheezed and began to halt. His blood was seeping down onto the floor.  
  
"I regret it…"  
  
_Hiei…_ The fox struggled to call out, unable to speak now.  
  
"Someone else took you."  
  
_Will you let me die like this… with you, like this?_  
  
"And it should never have happened."  
  
_I would be happy like this…_  
  
"Let us correct ourselves."  
  
_Even though I never…_  
  
"Belong to me?"  
  
Kurama relished the embrace as it was the last for him. A body could only last so long without the love of oxygen and already his head throbbed in the lack of it. His ears slurred the smaller's word and he could no longer hear that deeper voice as it spoke soothingly to him… So slow was his mind in fact, that when he felt Hiei's hot breath on his neck, it did not register. There was a slight hiss of air drawn in, and then…  
  
The bite was firm and purposeful, digging deep. Hiei's hand, once pressed to the other side of the fox's neck, slid back to push his head forward… and right into Hiei's shoulder.  
  
The molten touch of the other's mouth chased the chill off of his thin, weakened limbs and Kurama's heart skipped in surprise. For a moment there was confusion… questions and wonderment, but as the scent of the smaller pushed its way into his now-heaving lungs, the fox knew.  
  
Kurama pinched the smooth flesh of his demon in his teeth, closing his mouth over and drawing passionately, mirroring the other. Pale hands, once too heavy to be lifted, clamped fiercely to the singed cloth of the other's garments, refusing to let go.  
  
There was no pain, no discomfort… only heat and strength between them, shadowed by something far more powerful than just need. The bond that blazed to life seared like a blast of light, making the shadows scatter.  
  
Their entwined shape rocked slightly, the noise of their heavy breathing muffled by the blood roaring in their ears. It came in patterns, in rhythm… a pair of thrumming lives. The tired drum, so weak and close to rest found itself speeding with a new fervor to match its companion. In time they fell, beating together, strengthening each other in their duel pulse.  
  
This was a true bond. This was a claim that few demons ever knew of… not made in lust or heat, but in compassion, in love. The stain was gone, the claim erased, replaced now by another, far more powerful one.  
  
**

FIN

**  
  
.

* * *

Is it done? Oh… my… kami… Is it over? Oh, hurrah! Yay! Joy!  
  
You have no idea how irritated this thing made me. :beats with stick: This was the bane of my existence!  
  
I hope this ending pleased you… even though it just… ends. Hell, maybe I'll rewrite it. :laughs at the concept: Oh well, I don't hate it, just dislike it a little. Damn, I made Tsurenai's death too sad for him… but… it was kinda justified. Poor fox on a stick. I felt really bad after I did it… I did sort of like him. At least the fight was fun to write… and mildly disgusting. I dunno, I felt a little sick when typing the phrase 'rotting sludge of a fetid corpse' XP  
  
Anyway, this fic was old… I had the idea over a year and a half ago, but it warped on me. It was only meant to be two parts… and very short, but it ended up to be 3/4 . I swear… I apologize for the following; weak Kurama, inconsistent villain and slow romance. I also apologize for the vines in the first chapter, as the tentacle rape is so cliché… I then apologize for the probing of the second chapter, but that was part of a really awkward dream I had. -.- And I lastly apologize for the walk-in scene of this chapter.  
  
Oh… If you didn't get it… I was the bird bait. That was me. Hiei thinks I'm a dumpy idiot with a fruit fetish… which I am.  
  
As well, in the rose thing; Yes… I know I made a pun. Deflowering and all. I actually got that from doing a flower arrangement. Twisted bugger I am.  
  
As I promised… the translations of the words, as one reviewer actually got it right…  
Tsurenai Fuyukazi = tsurenai fuyu kazi = 'Cold-hearted Winter wind'  
Koshokuki = koshoku ki = 'Letcher-tree  
Utatori = uta tori = 'Song bird'  
Nezasso = ne zasso = 'Sleep weed'  
  
Alright alright, enough jabbering. I'd like to give my thanks to my Beta-readers, the lemon-headed Bitta and the gracious Ko-krama along with everyone that was kind enough to read and review. As for you who didn't review… thanks, I guess. :glares:  
  
Just kidding. Thank you all.  
  
Always your obedient servant ---_Green Bird_


End file.
